Memories of My Friends
by Thiswonderfulworldendswithyou
Summary: It's been a month since the end of his Game. Neku was with his dear friends. Life was good. He didn't think the person he never thought would enter his life again... would return. Now he's got the Composer of Shibuya to deal with again and a new Conductor to see. He even experiences memories now, along with his friends, and a new friendship too. NekuJoshua, Spoilers
1. Prologue

_**T**_**h**_**e**_** W**_**o**_**r**_**l**_**d **_**E**_**n**_**d**_**s **_**w**_**i**_**t**_**h **_**Y**_**o**_**u**_

**A/N: I finally wrote a one-shot!**

**I picked this game for my first one-shot since I recently bought the game (and beat it a week after that), and I have to say, it is my favorite DS game. The pairing I picked first was Neku/Joshua (don't comment if you don't like the pairing). I know that I will be writing four stories at once now since I've added this one, so I am currently trying to write as much as I can and update the other three stories on the same day so that I can begin this one and have more time on my hands with it.**

**(Yeah, big TWEWY fan here. I'm also going to add TWEWY artwork on DeviantArt. My username is in the Author's Note at the end of this chapter.)**

**You can consider this chapter as the 'prologue' to the actual story. I will explain more in the next chapter, where the story will really begin.  
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**This chapter will begin after The World Ends with You. **

**Read and review if you have the time (No time limit).**

**Disclaimer: In no way do I own The World Ends with You. Square Enix does, and I wish that they could create a sequel for the game (although at the same time, I don't, since the game is actually fine by _itself_).**

**Update (3-27-12): I SO did not look at the author's note and edit it! This is NOT a one-shot, just saying. And I forgot the author's note at the bottom of the prologue as well -_-. So, my username on DeviantArt is: Crossrealityxdreams. I have drawn quite a few TWEWY pictures, and am currently adding more. I will do a watercolor of a TWEWY picture soon.  
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><p>As usual, the streets of Shibuya are crowded. People hold shopping bags that hold different items from Edoga, Mus Rattus, D+B, or any other store you can find in the area. A million voices fly through the air, and there is never a moment of silence until night falls when the shops close. Everything is normal, the way it should be.<p>

Neku stands in the middle of Tipsy Tose Hall, licking the soft serve swirl Shiki bought him from Sunshine Stationside. Normally, ice cream wasn't his kind of treat, but since Shiki always paid for it and gave it to him almost everyday whenever they spent time together he had gotten used to the taste. He even started to like it. She had started to force him to eat things he had never tried before (or at least, had tried but did not like), one of those things being ice cream. Beat and Rhyme had also attempted to convince him to try the dessert, but he refused, saying that it wasn't on his list of favorite things to eat. After Shiki called him, saying that they should hang out today, the two had gone to the statue of Hachiko. She walked out of Sunshine Shibukyu with one soft serve in her left hand, her right hand behind her back. Neku was about to ask what was in her other hand when she ordered him to hold out his hand. He did so hesitantly, and Shiki closed his hand around the soft serve swirl she had in her right hand. Neku wanted to say 'no thanks', but she told him that he should just try the dessert, since him throwing it out would be a waste of money. She also added that he could at least try something new for a change and change his tastes, which includes food. Neku sighed and tasted the soft serve swirl, and was about to comment on it when Shiki received a text message from Eri, which said that she had designed a new outfit and wanted to see if Shiki was willing to create it. Shiki, taking this as another opportunity to spend time with her close friend, took off with her own ice cream in her hand, yelling over her shoulder to Neku that she would meet him at Tipsy Tose Hall since it was closer to Eri's home.

Neku raises his hand and puts it to his ear, expecting to feel his headphones covering it. The music filling the streets, mixing with all the voices, suddenly becomes louder. He doesn't feel anything besides his ear and some of his hair.

"Right, I threw my headphones on the ground," he remembers. How could he have forgotten that? It's been exactly 3 weeks since the final Game had ended. He lowers his hand and puts it in his pocket, continuing to lick his frozen treat. He looks through the crowds to see if he could spot Shiki.

"It's already been fifteen minutes Shiki. How much longer could it take to come back here," Neku asks to no one. He checks his cell phone to see if he had received any messages from her. When he sees that there are no new messages, he sighs. It is 3:15, and Neku is bored already. Just before he puts his cell back in his pocket, it rings. He had received a new message, and it is from Shiki.

_Sorry Neku! I'm gonna hang out with Eri for the rest of the day. She just designed this absolutely adorable outfit and we're spending some time shopping for fabric, thread, and accessories to match it. We'll hang out tomorrow, okay? Have fun, Neku~_

_~Shiki_

"At least I don't have to go," Neku says while putting his cell phone in his pocket. He does enjoy spending time with friends, although he hasn't gotten used to shopping yet. He eats the last piece of the cone, finishing his dessert, and then realizes something. _'Have fun, Neku', _he repeats in his mind, _That sounds familiar for some reason. I know I've heard someone say that way too many times. I know it. _He just can't figure it out. In the back of his head, he hears a familiar giggle as well. _Now I know I've heard that noise before..._

All of a sudden, his head aches in pain. He clutches his head with both hands, the pain feeling unbearable. No one notices him. Everyone is too busy, chatting about things like other people, their problems, or maybe even Tin Pin. No one sees the boy with the massive headache, whose head feels like it is being split in half. Even when his legs give out, no one glances at him. Neku clenches his eyes shut, waiting for the pain to end. The pain becomes even more intense, and he grips his head tighter. He breathes deeply, hoping the pain will leave sooner. He closes his mouth so that he won't make any noises or shout. He didn't want to receive any more odd looks like when he woke up in Scramble Crossing (when he was brought back to life), knowing that people will hear him if he _did _shout or scream. He is in pure agony now.

He opens his eyes when he hears absolutely… _nothing_. There are no sounds, no voices, no music. This is something that only happened at night, when people living in Shibuya were asleep. This would _never_ happen during the daytime. Neku stares at the ground, and when he looks up slightly, he sees a white mist slowly go by him from his right. He turns his head and, very slowly, looks higher. A white mist is moving through the crowds of people. Everyone is still moving around but are not making any noise. Neku observes the mist, and sees that the top half of it forms someone's figure. All he can see from where he is positioned are the arms and head of the figure, or at least the back of it. The strange figure goes in the direction of Shibu-Q Heads, and is almost out of Neku's sight. As the figure gets farther away from him, Neku feels the headache go away. He gets all of his strength back, and he hears the crowds and music once again.

_What, or who, was that? From what it kind of looks like, it reminds me of someone... but who? _Neku thinks. "I might as well follow it... Not like Shiki's coming back today." He runs through the new crowd that has formed in front of Shibu-Q Heads and Stride. As he passes Stride, he hears Shooter shouting excitedly that he doesn't lose as long as he has 'Red Kaiser' with him. _'Doesn't lose', that's such a lie_. For a brief moment, Neku remembers beating Shooter at Tin Pin a few times during his second Game. He smiles for a second at the memory.

When he runs past Shibu-Q into Udagawa, he feels his head start to hurt again. There are only four people in Udagawa besides him. They look at him strangely, wondering why a boy would be running into Udagawa when there are only two stores to shop at, and then return to their conversation. Neku stops running and begins to walk to the back of the street, which is CAT's mural. He halts immediately at what he sees. Once again, the music stops. The four people on the other side of the street leave Udagawa, and Cyco Records and Wild Boar are closed since the two shop owners had gone on what they called a 'vacation' for five days. So, the whole street is silent, except for Neku's breathing.

Neku only stares at what he sees.

Exactly three meters away from him is Joshua Kiryu, Shibuya's Composer. The snobby brat he had to deal with for a week. The ash-blonde haired kid who purposely annoyed him for amusement. The boy who had shot him _twice_. The boy who killed him.

Yoshiya Kiryu, the boy Neku Sakuraba couldn't forgive, but trusted.

The Composer stands in front of the mural, appearing to be staring at it. He doesn't move, which means he hasn't felt Neku's presence yet. Neku doesn't know what to do. He is staring at the person who killed him. What can he say? Should he say 'hello', 'how the hell are you here', or 'how are you in the RG'? If he wasn't so surprised right now he would ask so many questions, although his greeting would have the word 'hell' in it. The boy looks the same as he did when he was Neku's partner. He still has the same hair, the same clothes... He sees Joshua raise his hand and place it on the mural. He can't see Joshua's expression, but he wonders what it is. Neku remembers that he had done the same thing before his death. The only difference right now is that Joshua isn't killed by a gun.

He watches as Joshua lifts his head, turning to the left. The ash-blonde boy stares at the top of the Wild Boar shop, and Neku looks in the same direction. He doesn't see anything at the top of the building. He quickly snaps his gaze back at Joshua, who starts to fade slowly. Neku feels his heart suddenly quicken.

Neku, all of a sudden panicking, shouts, "Joshua!"

The other boy barely turns his head to him at the sound of his name. Their eyes meet briefly, and Neku can see a small smile on the Composer's face. He expected to see a smirk, but the smile surprises him. Neku takes a few steps towards Joshua cautiously, in case he was walking into some kind of trap. _I guess, it isn't,_ the orange-haired boy thinks, _Now I can at least say something to him. _He stands in front of Joshua, who faces him.

"Nice to see you again, Neku," Joshua says, putting his hands in his pockets casually. He is still solid, although Neku can just barely see CAT's mural behind him. "Miss me at Hachiko?"

Neku frowns at this. "It's been three weeks since I said that! I can't believe you would finally come after a month passed, you ass! Why didn't you come when I invited you to the mural?"

"Oh, Neku, have you already forgotten that I am the Composer, and that I am supposed to be watching over Shibuya from the UG? I should not even be in the RG right now at all. Sanae had warned me that I could attract Noise with my own presence here, but he 'allowed' me to do as I wished. The reason as to why I didn't show up and meet up with you and your 'friends' was because I did not want to be seen by anyone other than my dear proxy." Joshua giggles. "Also, I can tell that your two friends, Shiki Misaki and Beat Daisukenojo, would possibly want to attack me the moment they see me. Or at least, attempt to hurt me in any way possible. Now, Miss Misaki may not be so brutal, I know Beat will strangle me or harm me if he gets the chance."

Neku scoffs at this. "First off, their names are just Shiki and Beat. Beat doesn't like his last name for some reason. Second, Shiki isn't harsh enough to try to do anything like that. She is way too nice to do something really harmful. Beat, well, he would punch your face in. Either way, they'll both consider hurting you since you practically shot me in front of them. Just so you know, I won't let either of them hurt you."

"Oh? And why would that be? Are you worried about my well being?" Joshua smirks.

"Hell no, why would I care?" The orange haired boy sighs, calming himself down when he felt a spike of anger inside him. "I just don't want them hurting a friend..."

The smirk on the other boy's face disappears at the last word. No one has ever called him that word in so many years. It is one of the things that surprises him. "A friend... hm? I suppose so."

"Nothing's wrong with being a friend, is there?" Neku asks, crossing his arms. He blinks for the third time since the conversation started, and jumps when he sees that Joshua is starting to fade faster. He can see CAT's mural more clearer behind the Composer. Joshua's smirk returns at the reaction. "You're going to come back, won't you? At least let me show you to Shiki, Beat, or maybe Rhyme."

"What's the point if they resent me for shooting you and seemingly killing you?"

Neku thinks for a moment, and finds a better reason. "Maybe... _you _can make friends with them. Somehow, as long as you don't act so damn annoying around us." Joshua is almost gone completely, but Neku can still hear the boy's chuckle. "Meet me at Hachiko tomorrow, at six o'clock. I'll bring them, if they can come. As I said, I won't let any of them hurt you. That doesn't mean _I _won't hurt _you_. Don't be late either. And don't miss this opportunity to actually make friends."

"Hee hee hee. Well then, I guess it might just be worth a try. See you soon, Neku Sakuraba." The last thing Neku sees of the boy is his smile. It was _that _smile again, the one he saw when he found the boy at the mural. The smile that was more friendly rather than irritating. The boy disappears completely, and Neku turns to leave the street.

He stops, and walks back towards the mural. Neku stands in front of it, where Joshua had been. He puts his hand on CAT's mural and grins. _What memories this thing brings... One of them is my death._

"And the Game," Neku says out loud adding to the thought. He remembers the events of the Game clearly, although he had forgotten about Joshua for a while since he had not seen the boy for a month. He would say he wanted to relive those moments in the Game, but reconsiders after all of the terrible things that had happened.

And yet, the Game had made him a better person, and if it hadn't been for Joshua shooting him, Neku would still be the same alone, anti-social _bastard _he was originally for most of his life.

**V**

**~Enjoy~**


	2. First Meetings

**The World Ends with You (Chapter 1)**

**Now, the story really 'begins'.**

**I must admit, I'm surprised that the prologue already has views despite it being less than a week. I am also surprised that I've updated a story in less than a month since the last update. I have been playing TWEWY a lot lately, you know, getting the secret reports. I have gotten every single one except Another Day's. I WILL GET IT! I just need to beat the 'ultimate enemy' at the top of Pork City!  
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**Anyways, I think this will be the story that will be updated more frequently than my other ones. I don't think I will put Explorers of Sky, Oblivious, or Feelings Grow as well as Friendships on 'hiatus' because I am planning on updating all three on the same day (possibly April, since I have enough time and I can use some of my free time in Myrtle Beach with concert band to write).**

**SO, about the story, this is, as I stated in the beginning of this long Author's Note, is when the actual story begins. The story starts with Neku in the present time as the prologue. Where the actual plot starts is, well you'll read that. Also, school has in fact NOT started yet, so Neku remembers his time in the game. Yes, there is a main pairing and a side pairing. The story DOES follow the plot of the game, although I added things in here and there.**

**Also, I have updated Chapter 1 and fixed errors. I may have missed some, so forgive me if I did. I also added something to the AN in the beginning of the first chapter.  
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**So anyways, ON with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I did not create nor do I own The World Ends with You. Square Enix and Jupiter did (and thank goodness they ever did).**

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><p><strong>Sunday<strong>

**Day 1**

**First Meetings  
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Neku quietly ate his Shoyu ramen. He wasn't that hungry, but he normally ate ramen at Ramen Don now when he wanted to think. Ken Doi had seen him quite frequently during the Game since he bought a large amount of ramen from time to time. Neku would come here now sometimes with Shiki. She however was not that big of a fan for ramen, although she is a huge fan of Prince Eiji Oji. Neku came with Beat a couple of times as well. Beat wasn't into most of the ramen Mr. Doi made, but when he started making Curry ramen, the boy suddenly wanted to go to Ramen Don everyday (1).

"Anything else you need?" Ken Doi asks, standing in front of the booth Neku was sitting in. Neku shakes his head. "Something wrong? You usually eat my ramen more enthusiastically. Does it taste... unsavory? Disgusting?"

"Oh, no it doesn't!" Neku hastily replies. "It's just that there's a lot on my mind now today."

Mr. Doi smiles. "Well feel free to come here to eat and think! I won't give you any trouble. Oh, and if you don't mind me asking, where's those four kids you came here with a few weeks ago? I remember you came with the same kid for one week, a different one for the next, and another one for the week after. And then there's that girl with the glasses, cat stuffed animal, and green clothes!"

"Well, the girl I first came here with was Shi- Eri, the one with pink hair and a toy. Her friend is Shiki, the girl with the green clothes and 'cat' toy. We met three six weeks ago," Neku explains, "The guy with the skull cap and the little girl with him are Beat and Rhyme. Rhyme's his little sis."

"Ah, so Shiki, Eri, Beat, and Rhyme! What about the other boy?"

Neku almost flinches at the question. He was trying to avoid talking about that boy after seeing him the day before. Neku was still trying to figure out why Joshua would come into the RG now, and was thinking about what he should ask the Composer. Mr. Doi obviously only knew the two boys as his customers and did not know he had met the person who had the power to destroy Shibuya. Neku had hoped that the man forgot about Joshua already. _I can't tell Mr. Doi anything about him... Can I? He won't ever see Josh again. I know... I won't. Josh might not even show up. He's probably just lying through his teeth again._ "His name is Joshua. I don't think I can call him much of a friend. I haven't seen him in three weeks. We weren't close, but we did 'hang out'."

"He did enjoy my Shio ramen! I remember that he always bought it, and. I could tell from the look on his face that he loved that ramen! Maybe you can bring him back in sometime so that he can have some! I haven't seen you with him in here for a long while!"

Neku chuckles. "Y-Yeah. Maybe I should."

"I'll let you get back to your ramen. Don't want it to get cold now do we?" Mr. Doi walks away around the counter into the bathroom near the back of the room. When the man shuts the door behind him, Neku, glad that he was finally really alone, slurps up some of his ramen. He is surprised when he looks at his bowl and sees that there is less than half of the ramen left. _I guess I ate more than I remember_. wanted to leave the restaurant now so that he could go back to his home and concentrate on his thoughts. He eats quickly with a large amount of ramen in each bite. Neku's surprised he hasn't choked. However he knows the experience of how that felt and didn't want to relive that situation (2). He swallows the last bit of ramen and stands up just as Mr. Doi comes back. "Come back anytime!" he says with a grin, picking up Neku's now empty bowl.

Neku walks to Neko Street to his home. The street is surprisingly (slightly) quieter than the other ones in Shibuya. It is definitely cleaner than them, and the street is near the 'border' of Shibuya. Neku passes five more houses and reaches his house. It still looks the same as it did before the Game, and the boy's parents did as well. Both adults did not remember their son's death, which relieved Neku when he realized this. He doesn't know why they can't remember that tragic event, but thinks that it has something to do with Joshua. He decides that he should ask Josh about this when he sees him the next day.

When he was about to open the door, the doorknob turned. The door opens, and his mother and father are standing in the entrance.

"Ah, Neku, your father and I have some news for you," Ms. Sakuraba says with a sad smile, brushing a few strands of her long hair off of her face. She gestures him to come inside, she and her husband now sitting on the couch. Neku enters the house and sits on the sofa opposite of them, momentarily looking over at the TV nearby before returning his attention to his parents.

Neku's father shows no emotion as he tells his son, "We will be away for a few weeks, maybe the whole month. We both have our own business trips to go on, so you will be alone in the house for a while. I'm sorry that we won't be here to take care of you, but you will be able to do what you want while we're gone." Neku knows that his father does not feel resentful about leaving him alone. He knows he doesn't care.

"Make sure to eat healthy Neku. Oh, and wash any of your dirty clothes. I hope you remember how to do this after I showed you all those times!" Ms. Sakuraba says to Neku. "Don't watch too much TV in here, and remember to buy some new headphones after you lost your purple ones. Also, don't spend too much money on things you don't need-"

"Mom, I get it okay? I'm not a little kid anymore. I know how to take care of myself." Neku crosses his arms. His mother always tells him the same things when he is about to be left home alone, even if for less than half an hour. "I'm going to be fine."

His father sighs before saying, "Alright son, if you know what you're going to do, your mother and I will leave now. We're supposed to leave in five minutes." Both adults stand up and pick up the suitcases on the side of the couch, which Neku hadn't noticed. His mother picks up her suitcase and kisses Neku on the forehead before leaving out the door towards her car. Mr. Sakuraba nods to Neku and pats the boy on the back. He also leaves the house, closing the door behind him.

Neku walks up the stairs to his room, flopping onto his bed. He turns over and looks up at the ceiling. Both of his parents have left him alone for a whole month. Shiki was busy with Eri once again, both girls obsessing over the multiple outfits they bought. Beat had gone skateboarding through the streets of Shibuya, although did so much more carefully after his and Rhyme's 'deaths' before the Game. Rhyme had gone along with her older brother to make sure he didn't do anything too reckless while trying out his new Skull Deck board. Neku doesn't have anyone to hang out with right now, and he would rather just stay inside right now. He closes his eyes and tries to sleep, and it feels like only a few minutes have passed before he gives up. He stands up and walks around his room, opening the curtains that cover his window. Sunlight streams into the room when the curtains are out of the way. Neku isn't blinded by it, but when he turns around to sit at the chair at his desk, he sees something shine for a second on the desk. He walks over to it and looks at the object.

It's the Player Pin he had received that showed he was (once) a Player in the Game. It was the pin designed by CAT: Sanae Hanekoma. He picked up the pin and held it up in the sunlight in the position the sun would be it. "Heh, looks like it's shining." Neku smiles a little, before taking the pin in his hand and lying on his bed. He looks back up at the ceiling, holding the Player Pin. He breathes in and out, eventually falling asleep.

_**YK** -Flashback- **SH**_

**_Time:_**_ 11:32 AM_

**_Game:_**_ 1st Week_

_**Day:** 1  
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"You sure this is a good idea, Boss?" the man asked, leaning against a railing in the Station Underpass. "Tuning down your frequency? That's risky, even if it is just to watch over your proxy."

"I'm sure, Sanae," the younger boy replied, putting one of his hands in his pockets. "I want to see the boy I have chosen in person, although I won't give an introduction yet. I think he will meet someone else before me, and I know he has already encountered Noise. Soon he will make a pact, and I wish to see how this will go. I want to see how this boy will act with his partner no matter who it is."

"What makes this kid so special? You could have picked anyone out of Shibuya to be your proxy."

"Yes, well, what better person to pick than the worst person in Shibuya?" the boy said, laughing a bit. "There may be a chance to win this Game against Megumi if I use this boy as my proxy. Plus, this boy is quite interesting to see in this Game. Who knows how this will go if a boy such as him enters?" He looks at the Underpass's exit. "Hm, I think I should be going now. He is probably running away from those Noise. Best be getting back to your business Hanekoma." The boy waved a little before leaving.

"Well Josh, let's hope you thought this through, and that this proxy of yours was the right pick," Hanekoma said to no one. He looked over at the direction of the Shibuya River, seeing the new Wall covering its entrance.

_End Flashback_

"Hmph." Joshua picks up the four objects that had fallen out of his hands. He inspects each of them to make sure they are not damaged. One of them is the Lady Luck Pin, one that is rather popular with Prince Eiji Oji. The second is a King Pendant, a favorite piece in the Wild Boar brand, and the third object is a Skull Pendant, which looks clean of all germs. The last one is Tin Pin Golem, the 'Hero Pin' and the Pin the Players Sota and Nao had given Neku before being erased.

Joshua knows that he should not actually have Pins or something from the RG in his possession, but he had chosen to tune down his frequency once again, buying the King Pendant with a large amount of Yen (he _is _the Composer, and could have as much Yen as ever to buy the Pendant) (3). The Pins that he currently has right now are the ones that Neku originally had during his time as a Player. The Composer knows that it is not wise to do so while another Game is currently being played.

However, he had left the _new _Conductor in charge while he was gone: Merodi Rizumu (4). The fifteen year old (in appearance) girl has been a Reaper for 10 years so far, but has the ability to summon incredibly powerful Noise. This ability i given to all Support Reapers, but Merodi is somewhat unique, being able to create stronger Noise than other Reapers. She is also a tougher opponent for Players, which was the reason why she had most recent 'highest' record in Reaper Sport 3 (5). Joshua had never taken note of her before, or even acknowledged her until he had been told by Hanekoma, a few days after Neku's time as a Player ended, that Merodi was quite suitable for the role as Conductor. No other Reaper was as powerful as Merodi, and she therefore was suitable for the position. She had been given this important role three days after the end of the Game Neku had participated in and before another Game was going to begin. Merodi is currently making good progress as the Conductor, and proved that she was good enough for the position.

Joshua sits on the throne in the Room of Reckoning. He is utterly bored, not necessarily interested in any of the Players right now. He feels the urge to take a nap, but realizes that since he is no longer a 'Player' and has lost the ability to sleep, he shifts in his seat, crossing his arms in annoyance. It isn't normal that the Composer is bored, and this irritates Joshua greatly. He used to have so much fun before while he participated in the Game doing things he used to do before he took the job as Composer.

He closes his eyes for a moment, putting his hand on his forehead. _I could definitely go for some Shio ramen right now, _he thinks, remembering the taste of the delicious ramen.

Tapping sounds enter the room. The boy opens his eyes and looks at the entrance to the Room of Reckoning. Merodi Rizumu walks up to him and stands a few feet away from the dark throne.

She still looks the same as she had when she was alive. Half of her (dyed) baby blue hair is tied in a high ponytail, which reaches down to her knees. She wears a shirt with an upside-down V shaped space in the middle, showing her belly button. The V- neck shirt shows the girl's shoulders, and has very short 'sleeves'. It is a cross between sky blue and white, almost like the color of clouds in the sky above the city. The girl wears a skirt with feathers as 'frills'- the feathers still remind Joshua of Angel Feathers. Her sandals are light blue with tiny feathers on the straps, which actually form angel wings.

_She would make the perfect angel. After all, her attire makes it seem so._ _However, her personality does not make her seem like an angel. _Joshua looks at the girl in her amethyst eyes. "What is it, Merodi?"

"I have come to inform you that there has been an unexpected event in Scramble Crossing. It appears that a Player has been erased."

"So? That is something that normally happens to most Players in the Game."

"It was not by a Reaper, or by the Noise. Both Players had been in the middle of the Crossing when a flash of light destroyed a group of Noise they were about to battle. They were then attacked by Taboo Noise." Joshua raises an eyebrow at the mention of the Noise.

"_Taboo_ Noise?"

"Correct. The Players had managed to defeat the Noise, but with much difficulty. Both had been weakened so much that it only took one attack to erase one of the two. Their partner was also erased soon after."

"Where did you get this information, Merodi? This has happened before, and I want to know where you discovered this news," Joshua says.

Merodi answers, "I had been observing the incident in the crowds. The culprit appeared to have strange, black markings on his arms and wore torn clothing. He had gray gloves and dark hair. I have no clue as to what his identity is, but according to Mr. Hanekoma, you know who this person is. I would like to know as well." Merodi put her hands behind her back, waiting patiently for the information.

_I suppose she should know who he is. I had originally thought he had perished before he reached the Room of Reckoning, but now that he has returned, Merodi must know about this threat._ Joshua sighs. "Alright Merodi, the name of the person you saw is..."

_**NS** -Flashback- **YK**_

_**Time:** 12:01 PM_

_**Game:** 2nd Week_

_**Day:** 1_

"Shiki..." Neku stood in the middle of Scramble Crossing. "I can't believe I got her out of this but... she turned out to be my _entry fee_!" He gripped the sides of his head with both hands and shut his eyes, frustrated with himself. he had gotten Shiki the chance to come back to life, but he dragged her back into the Game by being his entry fee. "Shiki, I'm... _sorry_ I dragged you back into this..." He shook his head furiously to get focused again. "I can't stay here and mope. I need to finish whatever mission I'm gonna get... but how can I do that if I don't have a partner?"

His phone rang, and Neku looked at the text message from the Reapers.

**_Game I:_**

**_x= 30+74_**

**_t= 60 min._**

**_Incompletes will be destroyed._**

Neku groaned, feeling a stinging sensation in his right hand. He looked at the palm and saw the timer, which read **59:59. **"The timer's started... but I still need a partner or I won't last long against Noise!... Maybe I should check Hachiko again? It's where I found my partner last time..." Neku ran in the direction of Hachiko's statue, trying to avoid any confrontation with the Noise.

He stopped in front of the statue, looking around to see any other players. "Anyone need a partner?" Neku shouted. He checked the timer on his hand again. It read **49:50. **_Time sure goes by faster than I thought..._ "Someone has to be my partner..." He looked back at Scramble Crossing and saw a group of Frog Noise leave a symbol that had been nearby (6), a symbol that he hadn't noticed. Neku jumped when he saw the creatures getting closer. "No, I can't fight! I'll have to run!" Neku said, escaping from the fight. The Frog Noise still followed, trying to attack him. "I won't be able to win..." He closed his eyes tightly and then yelled, "_Someone help me!_" Then, there was a flash of light. He felt energy surge through him, feeling strength return to him.

"Someone made a pact with me, but _who_?" Neku looked around for his new partner, but stopped when he realized he needed to erase the Noise first. "Time to fight..."

Neku attacked the Noise with slashes from his pins, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis, eventually destroying all of the Frog Noise. He put his pins back into his pockets.

"It seems you do well in a fight," a voice said behind him. Neku turned to look at the person. His new partner was a boy with lavender eyes, ash blonde hair, black skinny jeans, and white shirt (7). "I see that you are strong, so you will do."

"Who are you?" Neku asked with a slight frown.

"The name's Yoshiya Kiryu. My mother and father, however, call me Joshua. We should get to know each other now, since you are now my dear partner." Joshua smirked at Neku.

"You? _You're _my new partner?" _I have this snobbish-looking kid as a partner. He doesn't look powerful or tough at all._

"Hee hee," Joshua giggled, "I think we'll make a great team, don't you, Neku? You seem to be an expert at playing this Game already."

"What are you talking about?" The boy wearing his headphones crossed his arms.

"I've been watching you play. You are quite the Player, if I do say so myself."

_Watching me?_ Neku thought. _This kid just gets weirder by the second... and he stalked me in my first Game! ... Wait a minute. He couldn't have been watching me then, could he? Is this his second time playing?_

Joshua continued. "Considering how it is the first day, why not try scanning this area? I'd like to see an example of your 'power'." He put his hands in his pockets, waiting and watching Neku with a smirk.

_As long as it gets you to shut up. _Neku placed his hands on each side of his head and closed his eyes. _Focus..._ He felt a thought coming from behind him- where Joshua was. He scanned the boy's mind, which was somehow possible.

_Neku could see Udagawa Backstreet. There were the same posters on the walls, 'Dead End' posters pasted on. He could see CAT's mural farther away. The vision only lasted a few seconds._

_Ugh!_ _D-Did I...? Did I just scan his mind? _Neku thought, surprised and confused. _I shouldn't be able to. He's a Player, just like me! Why could I see Udagawa when I scanned his mind?_

Joshua stood in front of Neku, waving his hand in front of his face. "Hello? Are you done scanning yet? Feeling okay?"

"... Yeah, I'm just fine."

"That's good news, isn't it? Well, let's go to our destination now, shall we Neku? Time is ticking after all."

Neku was a bit confused. _He figured out the mission? _"What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's _obvious_. Solve the equation. Thirty plus seventy four is ten-four. We're heading for 104. Hard to believe you couldn't know that, since you have visited that place so many times and memorized the name." _Smart ass..._ Neku said in his mind. "Also, for the sake of getting to know each other, I think it's necessary of me to ask. Do you have a name?"(8)

" ... Neku. Neku Sakuraba."

"Neku, hm? Adorable name, is it not?" _Ugh._ "Let's head on out then. To 104 we go."

_End Flashback_

**Current Time in Shibuya: 5:10 PM**

Neku wakes up from his dream, his grip on the Player Pin loosening. He sits up and remembers his dream, which was a flashback to the first time he and the Composer had met. _I hated him that time. I didn't like him at all. In fact, I thought I would have strangled or choked the guy. _"... But I would never do that." _Not to a friend._ He walks out of his room, the Player Pin still in his hand, and exits his home.

He looks at his phone to check for messages, and he sees that there are three new texts. Each one had been received at 5:15 PM. The first one is from Shiki.

_Hey, Neku! Me and Eri are finished designing for the day. Want to hang out? I have a little something for you!_

~Shiki

He reads the next message that is from Beat.

_Yo man! Feel like hangin' out today? I'm done with ridin' my board. Rhyme's gonna come to!_

-Beat

The last message is from someone Neku didn't expect.

_Remember what you said yesterday, Neku? You told me to meet you. Don't tell me you're going to deliberately miss me, hee hee._

After he finishes reading the last text, Neku sends the same reply to Shiki and Beat.

_Guys, meet me at Hachiko. I want you guys to meet someone that you should remember._

**T..W...E...W...Y..**

"Neku, where's this person you wanted us to meet?" Eri asks, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. Shiki stands next to her, wondering the same thing.

"Yeah, and who _is _this person?" she adds.

"I hope it's someone we can make friends with!" Rhyme says cheerfully with a bright smile.

"Or someone who doesn't need a punch from me," Beat says, "or anyone who's gonna hurt us."

Neku and his friends are waiting in front of Hachiko. Neku looks around for the boy he is hoping to see. He wants him to meet the others and maybe make friends with them. "Relax, guys. He won't do anything harmful."

They wait for another thirty minutes. At **5:45**, Eri and Shiki go into Sunshine Shibukyu and buy everyone soft serve ice cream. Neku eats the dessert to get used to the flavor, while Beat eats his since Rhyme suggested that he try the treat as well. Rhyme, Shiki, and Eri enjoy their soft serve with no complaints. Neku still checks the area in case he sees him come, but sees no sign of the boy. He sighs and continues to eat.

It is now **6:01**, and everyone else in the group is tired of waiting. "Neku, I don't think the boy we're waiting for will show up," Shiki says, playing with Mr. Mew in her hands.

"I'm afraid he won't come. It's been forty five minutes already," Eri says, taking out her cellphone to check for any messages from her mother telling her to come home. "I think my mom may text me soon that I need to go home, since I'm not allowed to be outside after 7 o'clock unless I'm doing something really important."

Beat stretches, dropping his skateboard on the ground. "Yeah, man, I think me an' Rhyme might have to go home too. Our folks might start to worry, ya know?"

"Can't we stay a little longer Beat?" Rhyme asks. "I want to meet Neku's friend. What if he shows up when we're all gone? I'd rather meet the boy. Maybe we can all be friends with him."

Beat almost declines, and was about to say that they should be getting home. However, he reconsiders since he knows that a new friend will make Rhyme happy. She is always willing to befriend someone. "Okay, Rhyme, we'll stay and meet this guy." His sister smiles.

"Are you and Eri still gonna leave?" Neku turns to Shiki and her friend.

"Well... if Shiki's willing to stay, I will. And now, I think I want to meet this friend of yours," Eri replies with a tiny smile. Shiki nods her head.

"Yeah, we'll stay. I at least want to see what your friend looks like and hang out a bit, or talk."

Neku was about to reply when-

"My my, you really did come, and you brought your friends."

All of them look to the left towards the Scramble Crossing. They are now the only ones in the area, and they see a figure approaching them. The person appears to be holding a bag, and they can see the person clearer as they approach. Once the group sees the figure's appearance, Beat and Shiki become defensive. They stand in front of Eri and Rhyme, who both look confused now. Neku sends them a look that says 'it's fine. Don't worry'. However, they remain the way they are without taking away the frown on both of their faces.

The person that now stands in front of the friends is the Composer.

His proxy comes up to him, and there is a hint of a smile on proxy's face.

"_You _actually came," Neku says to Joshua, who himself gives the same smile he did at Udagawa the day before.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's the end of the second chapter.<strong>

**I know, bad place to stop the chapter. But the whole thing is over 5,000 words long, _without _the Author's Notes. I want to have Joshua's meeting with the rest of the group to be in the next chapter so that this one doesn't get any longer. If you have noticed, there are numbers in parentheses: (#). I will explain anything with that sign in the AN at the bottom of each chapter.**

**(1)~ In Another Day, Beat is a fan of Curry Ramen made by Ken Doi in the Ramen Don. I just wanted to add that here since I wanted to tell of times Shiki and Beat had with Neku involving the restaurant since Neku (in this story) has frequently visited the place after the Game with his friends.**

**(2)~The experience Neku is talking about when he is surprised he hasn't choked will be described later on in the story. This event was actually in a 'draft' of the first chapter in an early version of this story. I had written it _before _I bought the Game, so the draft barely makes any sense besides the short 'Josh/Neku' moment.**

**(3)~The King's Pendant cannot be bought in the game using Yen. You have to trade pins to actually get the item**.

**(4)~ Yes, I made an OC as the new Conductor. Since the story's plot takes place in the present, Kitaniji is obviously not alive (If TWEWY Players remember, he was erased), so who should have taken the position? I made Merodi Rizumu as the Conductor, and I will be adding a picture of her on my DeviantArt gallery sometime tomorrow. Merodi's personality will be explained on the picture's description.**

**The meaning of Merodi in Chinese is Melody, while Rizumu means Rhythm. Both terms are related to music, which is why I chose the name.**

**(5)~ Reaper Sport 3 is Player Hunt. Reapers try to erase as Players as they can, and whoever erases the most is the winner. I actually looked this up on TWEWY's wiki (I DID NOT spoil the game before I bought it, because that's how I roll -_-;)**

**(6)~ In this story, the Noise approach Players in the Noise Symbols. Once they are close enough to attack, they will leave the symbol and fight. The partner is taken into a different 'zone', similar to the actual game's gameplay. Once the battle is over, the partner is transported back to their partner in the UG.**

**(7)~ Is Joshua's shirt white? Or is it like a purple color? I went with white (although I am not sure why).**

**(8)~ I (and a lot of people before me) have noticed that Joshua actually uses Neku's name _before _he asks for it. Yes, I am quite late, but in between battling the Noise, leveling up, and getting the Secret Reports, I wouldn't have noticed, would I? I added this fact into the story since Neku will later realize this.**

**So, anyone know why Joshua got those items, and why he has a bag with him when he meets Neku and his friends at Hachiko? Plus, Sho returns? How is that possible, you (may or may not) ask? Read on to find out!  
><strong>

**Oh, and one more thing, you know the letters near the word 'Flashback'? Those are the initials of the name(s) of the character(s) the flashback is about.  
><strong>

**And that is it for explaining! I hope you (the reader) have enjoyed this chapter, or at least read the whole thing and understood it so far. I will be updating _every week_, so expect a chapter soon!**

**TWEWY Players, live your lives!**

**Joshua: Slow down there, I want to add a little thing. Here's a little question for you to answer or just think about on your spare time. Hee hee, were you paying attention? Or were you just dozing off like Neku was when I told him the story in front of Ramen Don?**

**Here it is:**

**What was the name of the bandit that Dogenzaka was named after?**

**Hope you can figure it out. Maybe you will if you get some Ramen. Oh, I should tell Neku to get me some Shio ramen! Bye bye~**

**V**

**~Every~  
><strong>


	3. First Meetings Part 2

**The World Ends with You (Chapter 2)**

**Huh, has it been another week already? It felt like my week went by fast! Another** **7 days have passed, which means it's time for a new chapter!**

**The chapter will also have flashbacks again, although not all flashbacks will be from Neku's mind (yes, I know the summary I wrote had just Neku remembering. I will change that, maybe). Merodi's picture has been added on my DeviantArt account, along with some new TWEWY drawings I did. I hope the picture is drawn and colored in good enough, because I colored it in with water color pencils.**

**Artwork for this story will be added as well. I am still drawing the main art for this story, which will obviously be called 'Memories of My Friends'. Each chapter will have a picture after the chapter is finished and published.**

** Now, about the story, this chapter will take place right after the last one. You will see Shiki and Beat's reactions to seeing Joshua for the first time since the Game ended. They have _not _forgotten the events at the end of the Game, and still remember Joshua shooting Neku. I hope that their reactions are what you would expect.**

**Alright, so about adding Merodi's artwork in last chapter the next day, *Sigh* I have done a thing Joshua would do to Neku: LIE. -_- I still love them though! :D Merodi's picture has been added on my DeviantArt gallery TODAY THOUGH. If you notice, I changed her outfit style since I liked the new outfit better. I will change the description of her new outfit in the last chapter. More of her history will shown later on at different times of the story.**

**Now you will figure out what's in Joshua's bag, and why he had all of those things in the Room of Reckoning.**

****I must also thank the people who are currently reading the story and are keeping up with it. It makes me quite happy that people are reading this story. I think this is what is currently motivating me to continue writing and helping me focus on this. Yes, this is my focus story now, it's cool. ****

****OH, and before I forget, thank you, Book Thief101, for your review! :) I love your profile pic by the way (I'm sorry, I just love Joshua :D)****

****And also, thank you LoliBat, BookTheif101, and Burning Ice Freezing Flame for adding the story to your Favorites!  
><strong>**

****I GOT ALL THE SECRET REPORTS~ The secret ending was... worth it in my opinion :) It made me feel kinda bad for Joshua.. And I found every Noise type! :) So, my ESP'er Rank (on the save screen, top screen) is now Composer... YES. And I am challenging Panthera Cantus four more times to get the Pins he drops. Man I can't wait!  
><strong>**

******Disclaimer: I did not create nor do I own The World Ends with You. Thank the Higher Plane that Square Enix and Jupiter made TWEWY.  
><strong>****

* * *

><p><em>His proxy comes up to him, and there is a hint of a smile on proxy's face.<strong><br>**"**You **actually came," Neku says to Joshua, who himself gives the same smile he did at Udagawa the day before._

**Sunday**

**Day 1**

_**First Meetings (Part 2)**_

"Well, it's great to see you, my dear partner," Joshua says, "and it's nice to meet your friends." He looks past his proxy, who steps out of the way so that the Composer can see Neku's friends fully. "Shiki Misaki, nice to meet you in person." She glares at him through her glasses, clutching Mr. Mew. She doesn't reply, knowing that what she will say is not going to be very nice. "Daisukenojo Bito, the same to you." Beat forms a fist and starts to walk up to the other boy, who smirks. Rhyme holds onto her older brother's arm, trying to hold him back. At the contact, Beat stops and gives Joshua the same look Shiki is.

"Don't call me that name," Beat replies angrily, his fist getting tighter. "My name's _Beat_." Rhyme looks worriedly at him and back at Joshua.

Joshua sets the bag he is holding on the ground and puts his hands in his pockets. "And you must be Eri, correct?" he asks, looking at the pink haired girl next to Shiki.

Eri looks at Shiki, wondering why her friend and Beat are acting unusual. She then looks back to Joshua and answers, "Yes, I am."

The Composer offers a friendly smile. This smile looks evil to Shiki and Beat, while it looks rather fake to Neku. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Eri." She gives him a kind smile back, but it disappears when Shiki turns to her and shakes her head.

The boy walks up to Rhyme, who is not afraid of him. Neku, noticing that Beat is watching the Composer carefully, follows behind Joshua to protect him in case Beat tries to throw a punch at the Composer's face. "You are Rhyme Bito, aren't you?" Joshua asks the little girl kindly.

Rhyme, being the sweet and friendly girl that she is, replies, "Yeah. It's nice to meet you... What's your name?"

"Yoshiya Kiryu, but Mother and Father call me Joshua," he says back, smiling a little. At his words, Neku remembers that these are the same words Joshua had said to him when they had first met as partners. "I have a little gift for you, and for your brother." He picks up the bag on the ground and takes a pendant out of it. It's a Skull Pendant, dangling from his fingers, sparkling beautifully. "I bought this for you, Rhyme, as a 'hello' gift." He hands the pendant to her, and she puts it around her neck. The skull hangs next to her bell-shaped pendant.

Rhyme is delighted by the gift and grins at the boy. "Hee hee, thank you!"

"You are very welcome. As I said, I have something for you, 'Beat'." Beat stands in front of Rhyme now, in case the other boy had any tricks up his sleeve. He could just _shoot _him, since there might be a gun in his hand when he takes it out of the bag. To Beat's surprise, Joshua hands him a King's Pendant, which looks quite clean like the Skull Pendant Rhyme now has in her possession. "Don't think I forgot your gift," Joshua says with a smirk.

Beat puts the pendant around his neck, and the crown hangs above the black skull on his chain necklace. Not knowing what else to say, he says, "... Thanks, man. Looks nice."

Joshua nods and walks to Shiki and Eri. He stands in front of the two girls, and Shiki becomes rather defensive, standing almost in between the two. Eri still is confused by this. The ash blonde boy is not surprised by Shiki's attitude and only offers them another friendly smile. Shiki frowns at this, while Eri returns it. "Now, unfortunately I only have one of these, since a group of girls had attacked me when they had seen the pin I was holding. I had two of this pin, but sadly one of those girls had managed to steal it. One of you can have this pin, or _share_ it." He takes his closed hand out of the bag. He opens it and shows the two girls the Lady Luck Pin. "I managed to get two of this pin, but as I said, the other was stolen. Ms. Misaki, I know how much you love Prince Eiji Oji. I know you will practically _cherish _this pin," he teases. "I am guessing Eri is a fan of the Prince as well?" He gives the Pin to Eri, knowing what her reply will be and what she will do next.

Eri smiles brightly and replies, "Yes, I do! I'm a big fan of his, just like Shiki!" Shiki looks at the boy, suspicious if he is actually trying to hurt them. "Oh, but I don't want to hog the pin for myself. Shiki, why don't you have it?" She holds her hand out with the pin on her palm towards her dear friend.

The other girl shakes her head and returns the smile. "No no! As Joshua said, we should share it! It's fine if we do." Eri nods her head in agreement. Shiki turns to the Composer and hesitantly says, "Thank you, Joshua. It's a great gift."

"Thanks so much!" Eri adds cheerfully.

"Your welcome you too." Joshua walks to Neku and stands in front of him.

"Let me guess. You have a little something for me too?"

"Hee hee, why of course, Neku. How could I possibly forget to get you a 'little something'?" Joshua giggles and takes his closed hand out of the bag, putting the now empty bag on the ground. "Well, hold out your hand!"

Neku rolls his eyes and does as he is told. The boy in front of him places something in his hand and covers his, closing it. Joshua removes his hand and nods his head, which told Neku 'Now open your hand'. Neku does, and sees the Tin Pin Golem in his hand- aka the Hero Pin. Neku is surprised by this, his face showing this. "Wha-? How did you get this?"

Joshua looks at him with a smirk and says, "How do you think, Neku?"

_Oh right, he's the Composer. He could get anything he wanted here... But why didn't he just make another Lady Luck Pin so that Shiki and Eri could both have one? _Neku thinks. He gives Joshua a look that tells him, 'I know. You are the Composer after all.'

"So, enjoy your gift?" the ash blonde boy teases.

"Huh? Oh... Yeah, I do. Thanks Josh." The rest of Neku's friends come up to them.

"Hey man, what'd you get?" Beat asks.

"Yeah, what gift did he give you?" Shiki adds to the question.

"It's this." Neku shows them the Hero Pin. Rhyme's eyes widen a bit while Shiki and Beat have surprised looks on their faces. Eri looks confused.

"What is it?" Eri asks them.

"You don't know? It's the Tin Pin Golem. You receive this Pin if you win the Tin Pin Slammer Tournaments," Joshua explains. "Someone- I don't remember who- had given me this Pin a long time ago, saying that they no longer needed it. I was surprised that they gave it to me of all people, but I kept it safe," he lied. Neku knows that the boy just told a lie. He knew him well enough to know he would.

Shiki and Beat also know it is a lie, considering how they know the boy is the Composer as well. "You're... lucky that you're getting such a cherished Pin, Neku," Shiki says to him, "It's great."

"Yeah, it's a fine Pin," Beat adds.

Rhyme looks at her own phone, feeling it vibrate. She reads the text message she just received and tugs on Beat's shirt. "Hey Beat, mom says we need to get home now."

"Aw man," her older brother whines, "I guess we gotta. See you guys tomorrow! Hey, Phones!" Neku looks at him as the two siblings walk away. He shouldn't be called 'Phones' now since he no longer has his headphones, but Beat still calls him this out of habit. "Me an' Rhyme are headin' to Ramen Don for lunch tomorrow at noon. You comin'?"

"Sure! I'll see you inside!" Neku shouts to him. The two siblings are then out of his sight.

Eri takes a look at her own phone and sees a message from her father. She gets a surprised and nervous look on her face. "Oh no! I've got to get home! It's almost past my curfew, and my dad will kill me if I'm not home yet!" She looks at Joshua. "Again, thank you so much for the Pin, Joshua!" The girl starts running to Scramble Crossing. "I think I'll go with you guys to Ramen Don!" Eri is also out of their sight now. The only people left in front of Hachiko's Statue now is Neku, Shiki, and Joshua.

"So, how have things been with you two these past weeks?" Joshua asks casually with a hand in his pocket.

_He acts as if everything's normal_, Shiki says in her head. "What, after the Game? After you shot Neku?" She asks. She surprises herself with the sarcasm in her voice. Neku looks at her worriedly. "Things have been perfectly fine. It's like nothing happened. It's like the Game never happened. The only difference is that I am no longer envious of Eri and Neku has opened up to people."

"Well, that's good to know. At least you all learned something from the Game. It's quite sad to know that Rhyme will not be able to have her dreams back though."

"What are you talking about?"

"She lost the Game, as you had witnessed on the Fourth Day of the First Week. She lost when she was defeated by the Noise after sacrificing herself to keep Beat 'alive'. That is why she has lost her dreams forever, and her dreams were her entry fee. I had collected it, and due to the rules, I had destroyed them."

"You _destroyed _a young girl's dreams?" Shiki shouts, now angered. "Don't you think that's cruel? Rhyme no longer has anything to go for or to achieve... She doesn't have something to aim for in life! How can you not feel anything from that?"

"Composers don't 'feel' anything from such meaningless things. You do not realize that we always destroy the entry fees of all Players who have lost? We cannot feel anything from doing this repeatedly. Besides, Composers aren't even _supposed _to feel anything," Joshua answers. Neku looks at him with a strange expression that he can't determine. "I didn't feel anything when I shot Neku here, so why should I possibly care for a Player's entry fee? That doesn't count you, since you were technically Neku's entry fee for the second Game."

"That's-! Wait a minute... I was _Neku's _entry fee?"

"Why yes, you were. You were the most important thing to Neku after the First Week. I guess he really likes you, doesn't he?" Joshua teases. He knows that an entry fee doesn't necessarily mean a Player loves the person. He just wants to annoy Neku, since that is something that entertains him. Plus, he can finally do something he enjoys doing after being _so _bored for a couple of days. The Game he had played with Neku had been one of his more enjoyable ones.

Neku looks flustered and quickly replies, "What? No way! She may have been my entry fee but we're just friends!" Shiki looks slightly hurt by this but puts a smile on her face.

"Hee hee, I was your entry fee... Cute!"

"H-Hey! No it's not!"

Joshua observes the two of them playfully bicker back and forth about Neku's 'possible' crush on her. He has an almost sad expression on his face, but wipes it away immediately when Neku turns to him. "Say, Joshua... Why don't you... come to Ramen Don with us tomorrow?" Shiki looks surprised at his offer, but Neku tells her, "Hey, we haven't seen him in a while. We could at least give him a chance." She hesitantly nods. "So, will you?" he asks the Composer.

Joshua contemplates this. _Hm... Sanae won't be happy about that, and the Angels won't be any happier... Sanae can let this slide. I know he will. The ones in the Higher Plane don't need to know about my absence. I'll just let Merodi take over while I'm gone. Then when I'm done with this little meeting, I'll go back to the UG and resume my time as the Composer._ "I suppose I could come. As long as no one tries to hit me in any way."

Shiki murmurs under her breath, "Don't count on it."

Neku hears her, but ignores this. He smiles a little at Josh's answer. "Okay. Then we'll see you tomorrow."

The girl holding Mr. Mew looks at her own phone and sees a message from her parents. "I have to go now. I'll see you both at Ramen Don tomorrow." She winces a little on the inside when she says 'both', since she was not very enthusiastic about having Neku's killer with them for lunch. She turns around and heads for Scramble Crossing. _I just hope he doesn't try anything..._

The two boys watch her until they can no longer see her.

"Shouldn't you get to bed Neku? I expect that your parents had given you a bedtime," Joshua says teasingly to the boy.

Neku sighs at being reminded of his parents. "Oh _please_. Like I would really want to listen to my parents telling me that I have a bedtime. It doesn't really matter now though. My mom and dad forgot to tell me that I have to go to sleep at a certain time. I bet mom will text me though. You should know that they're gone, shouldn't you?"

"Indeed I do. Your father from what I know of him would not care if you were ever home alone. Your mother however, would be worried, being the more caring and loving parent."

"Hmph. My dad, I don't care for much, so the feeling's mutual. My mom... I don't think we're that close."  
>"Maybe you should change that. I know mother and I had a much more closer relationship that I had with my father. Mother and I would go shopping and do what other kids or teenagers would have done with their parent or parents. We stuck to shopping though."<p>

"Really?" the orange haired boy asks. He never knew much about Joshua. In fact, he is sure he doesn't know the boy at all. The Composer never told him anything personal. Then again, the boy probably never told _anyone _anything about his personal life.

"Yes, _really_." Joshua stops speaking after that. There is that peace and quiet between the two, and the rest of the Shibuya is quiet as well- something that only happens at night. "It's a story for another time," Josh says softly, almost too quietly that Neku doesn't hear him. Then he looks up and with a smirk adds, "Shall we?"

Neku gives him a confused look. "'Shall we' what?"

"Go to your home of course. A boy like you shouldn't be out here where you could be attacked by people or Noise."Better yet, I'll come with you! We can spend some... quality time(1)."

The other boy is surprised and replies with an irritated tone. "'Quality time'? How much weirder could you possibly get? Not that you weren't weird when I first met you in the Game."

"Oh, silly Neku. I am just more humorous than you can be. Or at least, I have a more open mind to humor."

_That was supposed to be funny? It's hard to believe someone like him could have a sense of humor at all. _"By humor, I hope you mean 'being an ass'."

Joshua pretends that he is hurt by his words and puts a hand over his mouth as if he was in shock. "_Neku_, such language! Hee hee, I missed hearing those words after that week," the boy says sarcastically with a smirk. "There was nothing fun to do after that three-weeks-long Game ended. There was hardly anything entertaining. Anyway, shall we head to your abode?"

"As long as you don't annoy me the whole way, I guess." Neku, once again surprising himself, is a little glad that the Composer was with him. He finally was able to meet with the ruler of Shibuya, despite the boy's late appearance after Neku had invited him to Hachiko three weeks ago. The two start to head for Neko Street(2), entering Scramble Crossing. The area is oddly empty, something that almost _never _happens in Shibuya. It creeps Neku out a bit, causing him to unconsciously moved closer to Joshua. The ash blonde boy looks over at him and smirks, but doesn't say a word. The orange haired boy doesn't notice. Neku puts his hands in his pockets and says, "Okay, so tell me why you brought up Rhyme when you asked how things were after the Game."

"I just felt like seeing her reaction. I don't feel like talking to Ms. Misaki- or Shiki- today, nor do I feel like speaking to any other of your friends."

"Then why'd you come at all? And what was with all of these 'gifts'?"

"Well, first of all, because I wanted to see you and your friends all together in person. It appears that you have quite a few already. Second, I thought that it would earn me a few points to give them something I knew they would like, including you."

"How did you get all of that stuff?"

"I simply tuned down my frequency once again so that I could enter the RG in this form- a fifteen year old boy. I then went to Wild Boar to buy the Skull and King's Pendants. To get the Lady Luck Pin, I just went to another universe to get it. If I recall correctly, Sota had given you the Tin Pin Golem before his unfortunate erasure."

Neku looks at the gold Pin in his hand. "Wait... So, this Pin is the same one I had in the Game?"

"Yes it it, Neku."

"And you kept it this whole time? Even after the Game was over?"

"... Yes." There is a short silence between the two. Neku, to his own surprise, feels a little touched by this. He closes his hand around the Pin and looks back up at Joshua, who is staring at the ground.

"So, uh..." Neku attempts to break the silence. "How are... things in the UG?"

"Things were going great. I recruited a new Conductor since Megumi Kitaniji is no more. Sanae's business is still booming, lucky him. It's as if nothing ever happened in the UG. Meanwhile, there have been a few things decided in the Higher Plane..." Joshua trailed off at the end off his sentence. Neku notices, but knows that if he asks right now, Josh will lie. He decides that he should ask later when they in some kind of way get closer.

"Oh. So who's the new Conductor?"

"The new Conductor was a Reaper that I paid almost no attention to until Sanae told me about her. I think you'll remember her. Merodi Rizumu is her name. Ring a bell?"

"Wait, _her_? She's the Reaper that we met before in A-East (3)!" Neku says, remembering the time they had met.

"Yes, I do remember the experience. She is currently in charge of the Game during my absence this week. She'll do a fine job, I know. Although I do hope she isn't too harsh on the Players or on Sanae."

"Why would you say that?"

"Like you, she was a Player a long time ago. Her entry fee was her **feelings**, which were- at the time- the most 'valuable' thing to her. Over the course of that Game, her partner, Saigo Yūjin (4), had helped her learn about emotions once again. They formed a friendship, something that Merodi herself had not had for years. If they had met before the Game, Saigo would have been her entry fee, similar to how Ms. Misaki was your first entry fee. The two worked quite well together from what I had observed atop 104. They were the strongest of the Players in that Game. And later on, Merodi, just like you had done, began to show a little more emotion with each passing day."

"So, if they were the strongest pair, what happened to Saigo, and why did Merodi become Conductor?"

"Well, Saigo, being the optimistic but sometimes quiet boy he was, had suggested they spend a little time off from constantly completing the mission first out of all the Players on Day 6. He was somewhat energetic, and had persuaded Merodi to just 'hang out' for a few minutes. What he thought was that the other Players would take care of the mission- which they did. So, the two began to play around, mainly Saigo. Merodi was not into playing 'childish' games, but Saigo showed her the upside by-... Actually, I shall tell you later when we reach your home."

"What? Why would you tell me there?"

"Because, Neku, I would _much _rather talk to you in your home rather than while walking. It's starting to make my throat hurt." Joshua rubs his neck with his fingers as if to show Neku this.

"I doubt it."

"Hee hee, tell me that when you're explaining the past of the Conductor while walking through the streets of Shibuya at night."

"Whatever. We're close to Neko Street. We just have to make a turn to the left of Molco. There's a bunch of other streets there, one of them being Neko Street."

"Neku, I know that your house is on that street. No need to tell me. I'm the Composer, so I know the way," Joshua reminded him.

Neku tugs on the end of one of the spikes in his hair. "Okay, again, _whatever_. Let's just get to my house already so that you can tell me the rest of what you were saying before."

"Alright, Mr. Escort. Lead the way."

**T..W...E...W...Y..**

Business in the WildKat had been oddly slow today. There had only been four or five customers, and Sanae doesn't like that. He guesses that today is just one of the slow days the WildKat (rarely) has. He starts to shine one of the cups under the counter out of boredom. Sanae looks up at the customer, who he knows should be busy right now and appears to be a bit stressed by something.

"Look, you need to relax," Sanae says to the girl in the seat across the counter. "I don't know why you came here even though you're supposed to be watching over the Game."

"I just need some time with other people. I'm not used to being alone now, and I just want to get out of that Room for a few while. The Players have been doing fine from what I have seen, besides that incident. The Game Master is cooperating and following the rules of the Game, and none of the Players are doing anything that is against the rules.

"Things are pretty normal despite that problem. Josh told you who that guy is?"

"Yes he did. He had also shown me a memory of the man (5)."

"Do I need to elaborate on anything about him?"

"I'm sure the Composer will tell me some time soon if he appears once again. I can also contact Mr. Sakuraba if I feel the need to do so. The Composer is currently absent. You know this, correct?"

"Ha ha, yeah. He's with Phones I bet. I know that it's against the rules but-"

"Mr. Hanekoma, it is against the rules of the Higher Planes for the Composer to come in contact with a previous Player, is it not?"

Sanae sighed, pouring coffee into his own cup. "_It is_. Josh just needs to tie up a few 'loose ends' with someone, and the Higher Ups know that. They already made a Punishment for this Composer. As long as Josh doesn't do anything too drastic or seriously dangerous that will affect the UG or the Game, it's fine. Oh, and as long as Josh actually 'fulfills' his 'job', it's fine. Currently they're also deciding my Punishment."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What for?"

"I helped Minamimoto with the Noise by perfecting the Taboo Symbol he had created in Udagawa during Neku's three-weeks-long Game. Since by my help Sho was able to wreck so much havoc, the Higher Ups think that I need to receive a Punishment for my actions."

"Do you think you deserve a Punishment, Mr. Hanekoma?"

"Heh, I don't think I really do," Sanae answered, giving her a carefree smile, "but I did go against the rules, so it's obvious that I need one." He sips his coffee and then sets it down on the counter. "The Angels though, man, they really want Josh to give up his role. When I last went up, they told me that 'Yoshiya Kiryu no longer seems fit to be the Composer of Shibuya. A new Composer may be in order.'"

The Conductor looks up at him, her eyes widened. "A _new _Composer? Who could they possibly choose? The current Composer may have broken the rules, but I do not think that he must be replaced. I understand that he has broken rules because of the Game involving the fate of Shibuya, but having him replaced? I do not think it is wise to do so. Yoshiya Kiryu-" Sanae gives her a look that makes her correct her mistake. "-I'm sorry. I mean, the current Composer had been doing a fine job, and from what I have observed of the changes he has made, he had made attempts to help Shibuya become the same city it was before- an incredible city that was never overruled by greed and money, as well as power."

The older man had listened closely to what she had said. He takes another sip of his coffee while thinking of her words, and he comes to a conclusion. "You admire him, don't you?"

She looks down at her hands, now in her lap. _It is true. I admire the Composer of Shibuya. However, it could not be possible that I..._ "Yes. I do admire the Composer."

"Anything else above that?" Sanae asks, already knowing the answer. "Any _feelings _about admiration that you feel... Merodi?"

Merodi continues to look down, eventually closing her eyes. Mr. Hanekoma keeps his eyes on her, waiting for her answer. _She'll either say the truth or lie about it. I know Josh would do that if I asked him about anyone else. That's just what he has to do as Composer though: lie if he must._ The Conductor's head snaps up and meets Hanekoma's eyes. "We will... discuss this later, I suppose." She takes out 680 Yen, handing it to him. "Thank you for the House Blend." She zips her long coat up and leaves the WildKat, Sanae watching her leave.

"Heh heh, well Boss, seems like you've got _another _admirer on your hands," Sanae says, knowing that the Composer will hear him. He chuckles, since he also knows that Composer will scoff at having another 'admirer'. "Let's hope you work things out."

**T..W...E...W...Y..**

"Okay, you're in my house. You're in my room. You're lucky I let you _in _my room. Now, will you tell me the rest of what you were saying?" Neku asks, annoyed that he had to let Joshua into his room to talk rather than tell everything in the living room downstairs. He sits on his bed, waiting for the Composer sitting at his desk to answer.

"Heh heh, you are so eager to hear the rest. However, I actually didn't intend to _tell_ you the rest."

"Wait, _what_? I let you into my own home when my parents are gone, even though I know I shouldn't have let you in, _just _so that we could _t__alk_, and you won't tell me what happened?"

Joshua stands up, giggling. "Oh Neku, you didn't let me finish." He stands in front of the other boy and leans down, his face so close to Neku's that their noses are touching. "I meant that I would _show _you what happened."

_Wait a sec... What? _Neku jumps away from the other boy, and he is against the same wall as his bed. His hands form fists at his sides, ready to punch the Composer if he had to. _This couldn't be going anywhere, could it? Is he going to try to kill me again or-!_

The Composer, had he actually been able to feel, would have been laughing at the boy's reaction. "Neku, Neku, _Neku_," Joshua smirked. "You thought _that_? You must have such an odd mind, hee hee hee."

Neku is gaping at that, his face feeling hot with embarrassment. "W-Well, it could have happened, considering how you act and how you said that!"

"Hee hee, and you call _me _the odd one Neku! With you thinking such odd things, who's the oddball in this?"

Neku groans, frustrated and flustered. "_Whatever! _Can we just get back to why I let you in here? Tell- or _show _me what happened!" Neku shouts, desperately trying to get over his embarrassment and change the subject.

"Alright dear, whatever you say, hee hee." Joshua waves the boy over, and Neku _cautiously _crawls back to the side of the bed near the boy. "This may hurt a little, but I'm not completely sure if it will." To Neku, the Composer sounds like he is almost concerned. _Almost_. The ash blonde boy puts his hands on Neku's shoulders and closes his eyes. Neku watches and waits until he sees Joshua turn into a white figure- one that he knows he had seen before (6).

_Memory Viewing_

_Time: 1:04 PM_

_Memory Start Location: Scramble Crossing_

_Memory End Location: West Exit Bus Terminal  
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_Day: 7_

Everything around him disappears, and suddenly he is in Scramble Crossing, with Joshua no where in sight. He looks around and while doing so, someone walks _through _him. He jumps back surprised, and two more people run through him. Neku looks at them and sees that they appear to be the same age as him, a boy and a girl.

The boy is the same height as the girl, and has short hair that is similar to the Composer but is the color of snow. He wears a coat with many zippers and has a scarf, which is odd since it is normally hot in Shibuya. The boy also has strapped boots that stop a few inches below his knees. "You don't have to work today. Let's just hang out for once! The other Players will take care of the mission!" the boy shouts to the girl, who is probably his partner.

The girl has a sleeveless jacket that had several feathers hanging from the ends. She has long light blue hair that had been tied, and it reaches her knees. She has a periwinkle skirt on with knee high boots like Shi- Eri's, and there are small angel wings in the middle of the boots. The girl answers, "Alright, I guess we could just relax for today." The boy grins and walks over to her.

He taps her on the arm and says, "You're it!" He runs away towards Hachiko's Statue, dodging all of the people in his path. The girl looks up at 104 and looks surprised, but shakes her head and runs after her partner. Neku follows, not wanting to let them out of his sight. He sees the boy leave the area and head for the West Exit Bus Terminal. The girl is getting out of Neku's sight fast, and Neku picks up his pace. He stands in front of the Moyai Statue and sees the two Players running. The girl stops running, already out of breath. She's _laughing_, and it somehow surprises Neku. The boy grins at her and waits for her to get her energy back when his face suddenly looks terrified. His gaze is above his partner, and Neku does the same. He sees a Cornix Canor gripping a large van in the sky high above the girl, and she doesn't notice.

The Noise lets go of the van.

"No!" Neku runs to the girl and tries to push her out of the way, forgetting that he couldn't touch anyone here. He goes right through her and falls onto the ground. Her partner heads for the girl as well, running through Neku.

"_Merodi_!" the boy shouts. This catches his partner's attention and she looks down, seeing the large shadow underneath her. She looks up and sees the van speeding down above her. The boy pushes her out of the way, and she is no longer the one under the van. _He _is.

The girl and Neku watch the van fall onto the boy. She has a horrified look on her face, while Neku is surprised and shocked. "S..." Neku looks at the girl, wanting to hear what she is about to say. "S... Sa...Sagoi." She stands in front of the van- the one that had just crushed her only _friend_. "Why..."

Neku almost reaches out to her to comfort her, but knows that he can't touch her now. He is then surrounded by a white light, and he feels the urge to look at the Moyai statue. He does this, and is shocked to find the white figure he had seen yesterday at Tipsy Tose Hall standing in front of the statue. The figure's face is the only thing Neku can't see clearly, but he tries to run towards it. He fails, and he is brought back to reality.

_End of Memory Viewing_ (7)

His eyes snap open, and he is back in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed in front of Joshua.

The Composer's eyes open slowly and look into Neku's. Joshua has a serious look on his own face, but Neku thinks that he sees some trace of sadness in it. Josh takes his hands off of Neku's shoulders and puts his hands in his pockets.

Neku doesn't know what to say for a few minutes and he just sits there, with the other boy watching and waiting for a reaction to the memory. _That girl is now the Composer... She watched her partner get erased, like how Beat watched Rhyme sacrifice herself to save him. And to think that she lost her own feelings because they were her entry fee, and her partner- Sagoi- had shown her feelings again in that week... I can't imagine how she felt._

"Well, Neku?"

"Merodi... that was her. Her partner Sagoi, he got erased protecting her."

"Yes he did. Their situation was similar to Beat and Rhyme's, where Rhyme had sacrificed herself so that her dear partner would avoid erasure. I had been watching the whole time."

"And you didn't interfere?"

"Neku, remember that I am the _Composer. _I am not _supposed _to interfere or interact with the Players in Games. Well, besides the Game you had participated in, the rule still applies. Merodi wouldn't have lasted long, but she had been saved."

"What? What do you mean by _saved_?"

"Megumi saw potential in her before she was about to be erased since she no longer had her partner. He saw all of her strength and power, and he thought that she would make a good Reaper. Megumi thought that her partner Sagoi had been 'holding her down', and decided that Sagoi cannot be revived."

"So... she was made into a Reaper? And she knew Sagoi couldn't be resurrected?"

"Yes, and _no._"

"_She didn't know_?" Neku asks incredulously. "Why didn't she know?"  
>"Megumi didn't tell her obviously. Do you not remember what had happened to Beat after he had turned Rhyme into a Noise? That was rather idiotic of him to do so in my opinion. I don't think turning a person into a Noise is helpful for them. It just makes the Reaper try to protect the creature and maybe pay more attention to it than the job they are given. I haven't mentioned this to her either. Plus, Sagoi wouldn't have been able to be revived or turned into a Noise anyway."<p>

"Huh?"

Joshua sits next to Neku, although a little closer than Neku would've liked. "Sagoi, before his 'death', had been in a hospital. He had actually died in the hospital bed, which was when he had been entered into the Game. _However_, later on, on Day 4, Sagoi had been miraculously revived, but was still unconscious, and since he was still a Player, we could not interfere. This was against the rules of course, since a Player was not eligible to play if they are alive. Since Sagoi was technically 'dead' when he was entered, he had to play until he was erased- which was the memory I had shown you. Because he was both alive _and _dead, he was a Player nevertheless. When he was erased, he had basically died in the Game, so his real body in the hospital was dead as well."

"So, Sagoi was- like you- an 'illegal Player', since he was still alive in the RG on the fourth Day. He had to play the Game because he was still a Player until he was erased. Since he died in the Game and he was both alive and dead, his real body in the RG died as well?"

"My my, Neku. Your listening skills are quite high now aren't they?" Josh teases, smirking. "But yes, you are correct."

"Merodi... she's the one currently running the Game right now while your away?"

"Yes she is. However I will be here for the week until the Game Master is defeated on Day 7. Once that happens, I will return to the UG as Composer so that I can revive the winner of the Game. I really don't want to go back right now though, since this Game and it's Players aren't as interesting to watch. Things have gotten _so _boring, that it irritates me." The Composer stands up and looks out of the window above Neku's desk. The whole city seems to be asleep, and it is currently 8:05 PM. It's possible that the city may be asleep because he felt somewhat drowsy after showing Neku that memory. He yawns for the first time. _Hm... I'm tired. That's a first, hee hee._

Neku notices his former partner yawn and asks, "You're tired? Since when does the Composer ever get tired?"

"To be honest- and I _do mean honest_- I suppose it is from showing you that memory. I have never used that power in so many years. I guess using it wears me out, hee hee, and that's the first time this has ever happened. I actually feel quite sleepy." Joshua goes back to the boy's bed and sits down next to him. He then lays back and rests his hands on his chest. "Hee hee, Neku, your bed is _quite _comfortable! I wonder why you never just sleep in it all day. Unless of course you-" He interrupts himself with a yawn. _Maybe I shouldn't have shown Merodi that memory. Using this power twice must wear me out pretty quick._

Hesitantly, Neku says, "Okay, I know I am going to regret this later, but why don't you just rest in here tonight? It's not like you have anywhere else to go yet."

"Actually I do. I can go to the WildKat. However, Sanae told me that he is going to have a talk with someone that's important." _Heh heh, well Boss, seems like you've got another admirer on your hands_, Joshua hears Sanae say. It is loud and clear since the rest of the city is asleep and there aren't a billion voices soaring through the air. He scoffs, and Neku looks at him.

"What's up?"

"Oh nothing. Just delving into my own thought and memories is all. Why? Are you curious?"

"Hell no." Neku flops back, now laying next to the Composer. "Are you going to rest in here?"

"Of course I will. I'm too tired to actually go anywhere else." He closes his eyes. "Nighty night Neku."

Neku's eyes open quickly. He sits up and looks at the boy next to him. "Wait, I didn't mean sleep on _my bed_! I meant sleep on the-" He realizes that Joshua is now asleep. "Hmph." Neku would have woken him up, but he didn't want to hear the guy complain about needing sleep now. _Besides, he looks really peaceful now..._ Neku reaches a hand out, intending to brush a strand of hair off of the Composer's face. He realizes what he's doing, and the orange haired boy hits his head with his fist lightly. _Ugh, what am I doing? I need to get to sleep_. He lays back down and closes his eyes, sighing.

* * *

><p><strong>Word Count without the Author's Notes: 6,898<strong>

**Wow. That many words in a chapter without the Author's Notes... DAMN IT. Sorry, I just wanted to cut down the number of words I add in every chapter. In my glee story I wrote far too much in one chapter that could fit two chapters.**

**So, there hasn't been a lot of flashbacks yet (well besides the last chapter). I had to write and finish this chapter before Wednesday, since that is when I go to Myrtle Beach with the band. Unfortunately, I can't use the internet on my phone now since I used all of the MB on it (Fudge). So I wrote this as fast I could in a week, so yay, I did update as I said I would!**

**As I stated in the beginning of this chapter in the AN, Merodi's picture is now on DeviantArt. I used Paint (I know, I suck), because I don't have any fancy programs to make better art (T-T). Well why I said fancy is beyond me, but I just don't have any good programs to make good art. So any who, on to the mini- ANs.**

**(1)~ This was a cutscene in Another Day, if you try to go to Trail of the Sinner after the cutscene at Dogenzaka where you form the team of 'Crayon Warriors' (I want to call them). It's 'sort of' a Neku/Joshua joke scene, and the scene is in fact on YouTube. Hee hee, I gotta love that scene (as well as Neku/Joshua)**

**(2)~ Neko means Cat in Japanese**

**(3)~ This will be a flashback later on in the story.**

**(4)~ Saigo Yūjin in Merodi's partner in the Game she had participated in before becoming a Reaper. As explained, due to his alive/dead state, he was an illegal Player, since living people were not eligible to play the Game. His state prevented him from being able to be revived as well, since he was also alive in the RG while dead in the UG. The Composer (Joshua) wouldn't have been able to resurrect him, and Merodi technically lost the Game due to her inevitable erasure. **Yūjin means Friend.**  
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**Saigo in Japanese is part of two meanings:**

**Saigo Ni means Last.**

**Saigo No means Final.**

**You can see the connection: Saigo is Merodi's 'last'/final friend she had before his death, as well as before she became a Reaper.**

**I don't know if I will create Artwork of him on DeviantArt. I might, but I am not sure if I have the time to do so.  
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**(5)~ Joshua showed Merodi his memory of Sho when he and Neku confronted him at Pork City, before their fight. Merodi also knows that it was Joshua would had killed Neku, due to her talks with Hanekoma. This will be picked up on later.**

**(6)~ The 'white figure' Neku is referring to is the same figure he had seen in the Prologue. I hope you readers know who it is!~**

**(7)~ That whole section... Well, see what happened was (That phrase has oddly been used frequently in my Junior School jokingly) my class had just finished reading The Giver in English last week, and I loved that book (Just saying, I think Jonas is alive at the end. There's a sequel right? PLEASE say there is), so I think that whole 'Memory Viewing' section came from that book. So, I did not own that idea, Lois Lowry does, and I am so glad she made that book.**

**So, that's it. See that tiny Neku/Joshua thing at the end? Well it was supposed to be very subtle.. I probably didn't succeed. But ya know, I'm trying to make their hints subtle. -_- I don't want them making out or anything.**

**ALSO, if you want to read the most amazing Joshua/Neku story I've ever read (I have never said that about a Fanfiction story before so it counts), read the story:**

**For Shibuya's Only Composer**

**By Armeria**

**It's the best TWEWY fic I've read... And the Author also made a touching two chapter story: How Could You, Neku?**

**I must say, these stories are both worth reading, because I was crying by the end. I was DEFINITELY crying at the end of For Shibuya's Only Composer. That story... BY THE COMPOSER IT IS AMAZING!**

**Well, see you guys next week (PLEASE READ THOSE STORIES. THEY ARE AMAZING, FANTASTIC!)**

** ~MOMENT~**


	4. Friends Part 1

**The World Ends with You {Chapter 3}**

**Neku: Where. The. _Hell_. Have. You. _BEEN?_  
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**Relax will you? -_-**

**(Strangles Procrastination... And the NJ ASK.) Ugh, I finally got to writing! You don't have any idea how long it took just to find the time to really write this chapter. Today was the last day of the NJ ASK test (and the last time I have to take it, whoo), thank the Higher Plane. I had to finish up that report on the Patron Saint I had chosen (Saint Lucy) and turned it in last week... but now I have to play with the Marching Band for the opening of the new Wawa tomorrow. Which really sucks. Ugh. I hope we get that over with so I can write more...  
><strong>

**So, I have put my other stories on hiatus (I know, what a disappointment). I have all my attention set on this story though, and I am motivated to finish this story first. Plus, I have been playing the game a lot lately (Psh, 'lately'. I've been playing this since February).**

**Luckily, I haven't gotten a writer's block for this story yet like I have with the other three stories that are now on hiatus. I know what I'm writing for this chapter as well as the next, and there will be more memory flashbacks (The Giver is still on my mind). Each chapter will feature moments from the actual Game, depending on which day. Example: The last chapter is technically the 'first day' of the week Joshua is staying in the RG. So, the memories in the chapter _before _that showed a memory from the first day of the second week of Neku's Game, where he first meets Joshua. The memories will correspond with the Chapter's name.**

**This chapter begin the next day after the last chapter: Monday. This will be a 'two-part' chapter like the last one, and so will the rest of the story. Neku and Joshua will spend time together, and will talk to another person you all know. Hint: _"What's up, Phones?"_. The Conductor will also be featured in this chapter as well, and she will encounter the dangerous 'man'. Hint: "So _zetta _slow!"**

**NOTE: The memories will be shown in the NEXT chapter! This chapter's...  
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**Now, I just want to start writing the chapter so enough of an Author's Note!**

* * *

><p><strong>Monday<strong>

**Day 2**

_**Friends (Part 1)**_

Neku sits up, yawning and stretching. He rubs his eyes and momentarily forgets where he is. _Huh... Where am I again? . . . Oh, right. My own room. I guess I must've had one hell of a dream if I could forget I'm in my own house. Wait, what was my dream about again? _He shakes his head. _I'll remember later..._ He looks to his left and sees the Player Pin, which he didn't remember putting down. Neku puts his hand in his right pocket and feels something round. When he takes his hand out, in his palm is his Player Pin. _I have... two? _He turns to his right, expecting to see Joshua. However, the Composer is no longer on the bed. "Josh?" Neku shouts loudly from his room. There is no response. He stands up and leaves his room, both Player Pins now right hand. As he checks his parents' room and the bathroom, his pace quickens. _Where'd he go?_

He walks down the stairs and checks the kitchen and the living room. Joshua isn't in either of them. Neku grips his head with his left hand, trying to think. _Where the **hell **is he?__! _Neku starts pacing back and forth in the living room. "Where could he be...? He could have gone to any of the stores... Maybe he went to Import Stylings at the Shibukyu Main Store(1)? I remember he forced me to take him shopping there." He takes out his cell phone out of his left pocket and checks the time. **7:22 AM**. "No, the store wouldn't be open until eight o'clock. Then maybe..." He looks up and sees a small white piece of paper taped on the front door. "What?" Neku grabs the paper and opens it, seeing Joshua's handwriting for the first time.

_My proxy,_

_I've gone out for a bite to eat. I'll be back around 8. By then, if you're still at your wonderful home, maybe we'll stop by Luxury Fashions. Relax, I'll be back!_

_Your dear Composer_

_PS Do you remember the two stories I told you about? If you have a good memory, they involve the bandit, Owada Dogen, and the name of a temple._

"Why would he write the PS part?" Neku wonders. _Owada Dogen, the name of a temple, good memory, the Game, second Week... Day 5-_

_**Ramen**_

"Wha-?" He looks around. "Is somewhere? Are you a Player?" He knows that the word Ramen had not been something in his head while he was thinking, so someone _must have _imprinted him. Neku says, "Are you? I know you imprinted me!" No response. The boy sighs. _Whatever..._ He takes a look at the note again. **Ramen...**

_**Don**_

The word appears in his mind. Now he knows that someone is imprinting him. _Grr... I don't have time for this. I'm going to get Josh. _He folds the note and puts it in his left pocket. Neku exits his home and walks along Neko Street, heading for Ramen Don. _Who would someone imprint me? Why would they be helping me? . . . At least I know where he is. _Since it is still early in the morning, the orange haired boy is _almost_ alone on the street. He passes the small alley between two houses, and he walks past a person in the middle of it. Neku stops and turns around quickly, wanting to make sure he saw them since he didn't see the person's face. However, there is no one there. "I know I saw someone..." The boy continues moving, although a little quicker.

Behind him, the person appears again. She watches him until he is no longer in sight. _Neku Sakuraba. The Composer's proxy, we will meet again, as I had said before.I look forward to helping you realize your last entry fee_ (2)._  
><em>

Neku enters Dogenzaka and looks into Ramen Don through the glass. He sees the top of ash blonde hair in a booth and immediately enters the restaurant. Mr. Doi greets him from the counter, grinning.

"Well well! Back again? You want the usual?" the man asks.

"Yeah, Shoyu Ramen," Neku replies with a small smile. He feels a bit hungry now, since he hasn't had breakfast yet. He walks to the booth and sits on the opposite side, across from the Composer. Joshua doesn't look up from his bowl of hot Shio Ramen, and appears to be relishing every bite of it. Neku rests his left arm on the table and props his head on his hand. He watches the boy on the other side of the table eat, waiting for the boy to acknowledge his presence. He doesn't do so.

After five minutes, Mr. Doi comes to the table and places the Shoyu Ramen in front of him. The man sees Neku watching the boy, and when Neku looks up at the restaurant's owner, Mr. Doi gives him a nod and a grin, tilting his head towards Joshua. Neku knows what the man is thinking and shakes his head quickly, denying the man's thoughts. Mr. Doi chuckles and walks back to the kitchen (3), beginning to make what is most likely his own breakfast: Miso Ramen.

"Hee hee," Neku hears a giggle across the table. He looks up and sees Joshua smirking. He sends the Composer a glare. "Keep staring at me and you'll make me blush(4)."

"Why'd would you leave without saying anything to me?"

"I left you a note on the front door, did I not?"

"What I _meant_ was why didn't you tell me in person?"

"Well, to me, it would be fun to have you solve something to find me. Almost like a 'hide and seek' game, but with a hint to help you. Did you figure it out yourself?"

"Almost."

"Maybe your memory isn't as good as I thought. Hard to believe you still even remembered the name of the bandit Dogenzaka was named after when I told you the story on Week 2, Day 5."

"I did remember, but before I actually figured it out myself, someone helped me by doing something to me."

"Oh? How so?" Joshua asks, about to eat some of his ramen.

"Imprinting." The Composer raises an eyebrow, actually curious now. _A Player imprinting my Proxy? Well, this is new._

"When did this happen exactly?"

"When I was in my house, figuring out your note. While I was thinking, the words **Ramen **and **Don** immediately came into my mind. I am absolutely sure that a Player imprinted me. I don't get why or how a Player would have gotten inside my home, but I know it was a Player."

Neku eats a bit of his Shoyu Ramen while watching Joshua, wanting to know it he knew anything else. The ash blonde haired boy just stares at his ramen with a serious look for some reason. He looks back up at Neku again, and replaces the looks on his face with a smirk. "Neku, you're staring at me again! Hee hee, you must really like how I look, hm?"

"Shut up! I thought you would say something else back!" Neku replies, feeling a bit embarrassed and annoyed at the response he received instead. "I just passed someone while walking along Neko Street on the way here. Have any clue who could do that?"

"No, not at all," Joshua answers after a moment, returning to his bowl of ramen. Lucky for him, it's still hot. Neku knows that the Composer is lying when he says he doesn't know. The boy would know, and would lie.

"I know that's not true," the orange haired boy tells him after swallowing some Shoyu ramen. "Don't lie. Someone from the UG should be able to do that. Like Mr. H."

"Heh heh, Sanae isn't here Neku. He had to go to a meeting up above. Although, he could be back. I suppose I will pay him a visit later."

"What about eating lunch with Shiki, Eri, Beat, and Rhyme? Aren't you coming?"

"Of course I'm coming back here. I would love to spend a little time with your... group." _Friends. The correct term is friends. Just say it, you don't have any, so why wouldn't you just say that word? _Joshua thinks in his head.

Neku asks, "By 'group', you mean friends, right?"

"Yes, that's what I meant." Joshua eats more of his Shio ramen, looking down at his food rather than at Neku. He didn't want to use the term friends very often now that he was able to see into Neku's mind (5). After looking into Neku's mind, he had seen how happy Neku and his... friends were. It made the Composer feel something, something that made him always lose his smirk or 'smile' on his face. It made him feel something that tugged the corners of his mouth down a little. He couldn't describe the feeling (6).

The ex-Player doesn't say anything when he sees the look on the Composer's face. _Why does he look like that? He looks **almost **sad... but then again, he said Composer's can't feel._ _If he can't feel... I'll ask him later, since I just know he'll lie like he always does. _He returns to his ramen, which is still warm. The two boys continue to eat in silence, which Joshua not making eye contact with Neku and Neku sometimes sneaking glances at the other boy. After about fifteen **long **minutes, they are both finished their ramen. Mr. Doi comes back takes both of the empty bowls and says with a grin," Hope the two of you enjoyed your breakfast! Come back soon, okay?"

"Hee hee, actually," Joshua says, "We're both coming back here at noon with a few f- people for lunch." _Why do I find more difficulty to say the word? I did not have this issue when I spoke to Neku two days ago at Udagawa, however, I now have this problem._

Neku knows that Josh meant to say 'friends'. He doesn't know why he doesn't just say the word already. Mr. Doi doesn't notice this at all and only cheerfully replies, "Well it's good to see that you all plan on meeting here! I won't bother any of you. Would the people you're meeting with the friends that Neku here told me about yesterday?"

Joshua looks at Neku with a raised eyebrow, and Neku tells the man, "Yeah, they are. We're coming here for lunch. If they get here before us, you wouldn't mind telling them to wait for us and that we might be late?"

"I have no problem doing that! I'll make my curry ramen as well for the boy that enjoys it. If you're both still hungry, I'll have some Shio and Shoyu ramen for you when you get here!"

"Thanks, sir." Joshua waves, walking out of the restaurant.

"We'll see you later." Neku adds, "By the way, when exactly did he get here?"

"Let me see... I think he walked in at seven o'clock. Guess he left you without telling you?"

"Yeah."

"You should keep a better eye on your good friend there. Don't want him to get away from you now, do we?"

"Uh... sure." Neku waves goodbye to Mr. Doi who gives him a grin. Something about how the man described Joshua made Neku feel... odd. _Mr. Doi couldn't think that me and Josh are... No, no, **no**__! I was just waiting for him to say something! What the hell... _He looks to his left and right of Dogenzaka, trying to find the Composer. He sees the other boy standing in front of Pork City with his hands in his pockets. He walks up to the ash blonde haired boy, standing next to him. "Why are you over here?"

"I didn't have anything to do or anything interesting to look at while you were speaking to Mr. Doi. So, I had to resort to staring at the entrance to Pork City. It is the only thing worth looking at in this area."

"Then maybe you should have gone somewhere else without me to stare at something better."

"Hee hee, are you kidding Neku? _You _have the money I need to buy things from Import Stylings! We _are _going shopping later."

"You're the Composer. You could get as much Yen as you wanted."

"Well I'd rather not use my powers here very often. The Noise became attracted to my presence while I was walking to different stores, especially when I had used my powers to create a 'few' good 10,000 Yen Pins to buy those gifts for your... Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme. Oh, and for you as well."

"And how do you know the Noise aren't chasing us now?"

"The current Players are erasing them. They don't know that you are walking with the Composer, so any Players around us will take care of all of those Noise."

"So you don't want to use your powers here... Does that mean you can't read my mind or anything like that?" Neku asks.

"Nope. I don't want to attract anymore Noise in case they get close enough to attack me. I would be defenseless, because I would attract more if I used my powers and you are practically useless to me as a proxy."

"What do you mean I'm _useless_?"

"You are not longer a Player. Therefore, you have lost your ability to use Pins and Psychs." Joshua turns around and walks away, Neku following. "Actually, I would like to post pone the shopping for later. I want to pay someone a visit." The two walk out of Dogenzaka and enter the area in front of 104.

Neku notices that Joshua hasn't said a word in the last few minutes- something that he thought couldn't happen. He feels like he wants to start some kind of conversation just to get the kid to talk, since it wasn't normal for the Composer not to speak with him or annoy him in any way. "So, who exactly are we visiting? CAT?"  
>"We are Neku. Good guess for once. At this point he should be finished with that long meeting he had with the Higher Ones. I would like to speak to him alone."<p>

"Why are you dragging me along if you want to talk to him by yourself?"

"Neku, do you really think I want you away and out of my sight?"

"You chose to get out of _my _sight today."

"Yes, well, that was my decision. Composers don't need sleep. I shouldn't even have been able to fall asleep at all. We aren't completely human, so there is no use for that."

"That's like how you don't have feelings, isn't it?"

"Mm-hmm. The rules Composers are given by the Higher Ones take away many of the abilities that make us quite human, such as the Ability to sleep. The Ability to eat is not taken away, however, we do not actually have the Need to eat any longer, and we can no longer feel hunger."

"If you lose the ability to sleep, how did you sleep last night?" Neku questions.

"Ah, that question is something even I cannot answer." The two boys manage to walk through the large crowd in Scramble Crossing, pass through the cluster of humans in front of the Shibu Department Store, and enter the area in front of Towa Records from Cadoi City. Joshua does not say anything else, which makes Neku think even more about what could be going on in the Composer's head. They walk in silence to Cat Street, and when they finally enter the WildKat, Joshua finally speaks again, although his words are directed to Sanae Hanekoma rather than Neku. "How was the meeting with the Higher Ones?" Joshua asks as he and Neku sit on two seats at the counter.

Mr. Hanekoma sips his cup of coffee, leaning against the counter in front of them. "It was pretty important, Boss. Before I tell you about it though, I want to know what you two have done so far. And Phones, if you want, you can ask any questions you have for me."

"Sure. I actually have a few things I need to ask," Neku replies.

"I'd be glad to answer 'em. Josh, there's someone that has to talk to you in the back room. It's urgent." Sanae points to the door at the other end of the cafe, which led to the private room that only contained two quite comfortable chairs, a coffee table, sofa, and a top-notch stereo. The Composer stands up and looks back at the Producer.

"I know who it is already Sanae. Be sure to answer any questions my ex-Proxy gives you." As he walks past the adult, he adds in a quieter voice, "No matter what he asks." He makes his way to the entrance to the private room, opens the door, and closes it behind him, leaving Neku and Mr. Hanekoma alone in the Cafe.

Neku looks down at the counter, ready to ask his questions. A cup of fresh hot coffee is placed in front of him, and he turns to the WildKat's owner.

"Heh, I thought you might have wanted a cup for the morning. Although I already know you and Josh had 'breakfast'."

"How'd you know that?"

"... See you forgot that we talked sometimes, huh?"

"Oh, right... So, Mr. H, I have a few things to ask you."

"Go for it."

"Why'd would Joshua come back to the RG?"

Sanae sighs, putting his half-finished coffee cup on the counter top. "Ya know, I think you should ask _him _that. Better for him to tell you, than for me to do it for him, right?"

"But, I know that you would know already. He'd probably tell you first out of anyone."

"Phones, we are kind of close. That doesn't mean I know _everything _about him. And that doesn't mean he tells me everything either... _But _if you want a little hint, here's one. He wanted to tie up a 'loose end' with someone. They just don't know it yet."

"A loose end... Whatever that means." Neku takes a long sip of his coffee, feeling the liquid heat up his mouth and almost burn his tongue from the warmth. "I guess, I could ask him for the rest of that answer later.. if he doesn't lie to me about it. My next question is... well it's not really much of a question. It's just... I want to know more about this 'power' Joshua has."

"Which one? He's got more than you think. Try bein' more specific."

"I want to know more about his power to show memories."

A surprised expression appears on Hanekoma's face, since he hadn't been expecting that question. "Wait, _that _power? You want to know more about it?"

"Well, yeah. I thought you could tell me. Don't you know about it?"

The cafe's owner scratches his head. "You really wanna know, Phones? Not that it's a long explanation, but it's technically against the rules in the Higher Planes to talk about the Composer's powers with a non-Player. Even if that person _used _to be a Player, it's still breaking the rules."

"So, why did Joshua tell me and show me that power yesterday?"

_Figures Josh would do that. Can't blame him though. He's gotta do this his way with the time he's got. _"That's just Josh being Josh, Neku. You don't know what to expect from him. Even I don't know."

"Look, Mr. H, I just want to know more about this power he has, getting back to what I asked-or said."

"Alright. As I said, it's not a long explanation. Composers are given their powers once they receive their position. The first ones they receive are the basic ones- the most important being the ability to resurrect the Winner of the Game. They get all those basic powers. _But _there are powers that a Composer can get by chance. The Higher Ups can't control the probability of getting them, but they are somehow given to new Composers. Joshua happened to get the power of memory, allowing him to show his own memories to others. That is one of the abilities that the ones upstairs have recorded. There are plenty of other powers Composers can receive, but Josh got this one."

"Is there anything harmful about it? After he showed me a memory, Josh got tired and fell asleep, and I think it had something to do with that power."

"It definitely did. Using the 'advanced' powers the Composer received can actually wear them out, use up more of their energy. Heh heh, I remember he had to rest up a bit in the back room, and by rest up, I mean just stare up at the ceiling while sitting in a lounge chair. But did you say he fell _asleep_?" Mr. Hanekoma asks with a questioning look and a raised eyebrow. He takes another sip of his coffee.

"Yeah. He showed me a memory of Merodi and her partner, Saigo. It was about how he... got erased." Neku frowned at the memory, feeling sympathy for the Conductor. "He talked to me about the memory, but he was pretty tired after it ended. Why? What's wrong with the Composer sleeping?"

"You see, Composers are no longer complete humans. They lose abilities and qualities that humans have. A few of them involve feeling hunger, dehydration, and _sleep_. (2) In order to really run things, they can't have anything 'holding them back' from their work- protecting their city. With many things like that, the Higher Ones think that there would be more distractions, so they gave Composers their powers in exchange for their human qualities. It's not normal for Composers to actually sleep though. Not at all."

"What did he do at the beginning of the days in the Game while I was asleep?"

"From what he's told me, he just watches the people of Shibuya do what they always do: talk, shop, and play Tin Pin. During that Week, Shibuya's people haven't changed much, besides their new craze for the O-Pins the previous Conductor had distributed among them and the Reapers. Josh noticed all of the O-Pins they were wearing before, and knew they were all Kitaniji's doing. If you remembered, he would also talk to me on the phone. He's not the nice, sweet and innocent kid you think he is, is he?" Mr. Hanekoma jokes, laughing at Neku's reaction.

"Hey! He's an annoying brat! He pissed me off a lot during that whole week, and he enjoys me being irritated! Josh is the most 'prissiest' partner I could have ever had."

"But he's still someone you trust," the older man tells him, still chuckling a little. "Good to see you learned something from what I said."

"Yeah, I guess I still... trust him," Neku replies after a moment, swallowing a gulp of his coffee. "But I still think he's an ass."

"You get used to him after a while, Phones. I know you will! Merodi and I deal with his more serious side a lot more than you do. Trust me, you won't ever see him serious, but we will."

"Since when can he ever be serious? Well, actually, I can believe it, since as he says he can't feel anything."

Sanae suddenly looks stern. "Oh, he told you huh?"

"What? About what?"

"The Higher Ones take the new Composer's feelings once they have the position. Just like hunger and sleep, Composers' feelings must be taken away as well. They are also distractions, because there is a possibility that they will bond with people- or 'worse', Players if they watch over them. Sadness and Happiness are emotions that the Higher Ups say are the most _dangerous _and _distracti__ng_. This is due to the fact that bonds Composers have may prevent them from performing their duties. This also applies for Reapers with Players.

"But you know, as shocking as this appears to be, what the Higher Ups don't know is that what they call 'bonds' is really called _friendships_. Composers aren't meant to have friends. After all, as one Angel states, 'there is no reason to have such useless bonds with others, for they will be distracted working on their masterpieces. It is best for one Composer to have their own, unique music- one they _alone_ create. Heh, or at least how I phrase it. Either way, Neku, you see the point."

"Composers can't have friends..." Neku drinks a huge gulp of coffee, finishing the rest of his cup. Then something clicks in his head. His eyes widen. "Wait, that's why he won't say the word 'friend' all of a sudden?"

"What do you mean?"

"This may sound really stupid, but he won't use the word friend when he's talking to someone now. And he wouldn't call Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme friends of mine. Sure, they aren't technically his friends, but he would be able to use the word anyway to describe them! I don't know what's up with him though. He was fine when we met on yesterday, and he did say 'friend' a couple of times."

"... Honestly, I'm at a loss here as well. I can't think of any reason why he'd start doing that. You've gotta ask him that, since I can't answer your question. Just do that when you're close to him. I've known Josh for a long time, and he normally doesn't confide everything to me. So, get closer to him, like you are _really _reaching out to him and trying to be a real friend to him. Like I told you when you were still a Player, Josh was lonely, even if he doesn't show it. Because of his ability to see the Reaper's Game in play during it's performance, people thought he was an odd kid when he told them about it. Not one person would spend time with him. I gotta feel at least a bit sorry for him even if he doesn't accept that. He could show you a memory or two, but the power's just gonna drain his energy more.

"Remember though, he doesn't have a friend. He doesn't have _any _Neku. Even though we are close, we're not friends. We're more like... _guardians _for one another. But you can be friends with him. What happened to that friendship you two had during that Game?"

"... I guess we still have something. We're not close though, and I barely know the kid anymore, now that I know he's the Composer. I didn't have it in me to shoot him. I know that our bond before was what kept me from pulling that trigger."

"Good to know. See? You _do _have a friendship! ... Or something close to it. Better than nothing, am I right? Just grow on it. Soon, you and Josh'll be-"

The door to the back room opens, Neku and Hanekoma's heads turning to it. The boy they had been talking about walks out and shuts the door before sitting at the counter on the seat beside Neku. Joshua crosses his arms, not looking at the two.

"So, how'd that talk go?" Sanae asks the Composer.

The ash blonde haired boy answers without turning his gaze from the counter to the man. "Fine. Just fine. I had to get some business out of the way and discuss an important topic that had to be talked about."

"Hey Josh?" Neku calls, moving in his seat to face the other boy. Joshua does not move, but he looks at him out of the corner of his eyes. Neku is about to ask what the topic was, but decides against it. _Remember what Mr. H said... I'll ask him later when we're closer. He might not lie to me then. For now... God, I can't believe I'm asking this. _"You still in the mood to go to Import Stylings?"

Joshua smiles at the idea."Why of _course _Neku! I am surprised you are the one asking now, and at a good time too! Import Stylings is going to open any minute! If we're lucky we might just be the first ones inside!"

_Great_, Neku says in his mind sarcastically. "Are we going or what?"

"Yes we are!" Joshua grabs Neku's wrist and turns to the Producer. "Goodbye, Sanae. We'll talk again soon."  
>"See ya Josh," he replies with a chuckle, picking up Neku's empty cup on the counter.<p>

Joshua yanks Neku out of his seat and runs out of the WildKat, dragging the orange haired boy with him. Sanae chuckles for a moment. _Josh, you're gonna drive that kid crazy when you're shopping. _He then lets the grin slide off his face and looks at the plant in the corner of the room next to the back room. "You can come out now." The outline of a person starts to form slowly, and the rest of the figure appears in a second. Merodi sits in front of Sanae at the counter, where the Composer had sat. "I know you admire him, but just watching him without him knowing is just creepy, Mel."

"I am only watching because they were both here, Mr. Hanekoma. I wanted to listen to you and Mr. Sakuraba's conversation, and it appears that he doesn't remember anything of his previous entry fee before the end of the Game (7)."

"Why does that matter to you? You're the one who wants him to remember that. And you should know that using your position as the Composer to 'help' Neku is going to get you in a little trouble with the ones above our heads."

"I know it will. However, I am willing to merely help Neku remember before it is time for the Composer's Punishment (8). It will actually do the boy good, because in my own opinion, he should still have his entry fee returned to him. It may have been the most precious thing for the boy, but there was no reason for the Composer to take that entry fee. Mr. Sakuraba was not going to be entered into another Game, and that gave the Composer no reason to keep that precious thing away."

Mr. Hanekoma sighs, putting a hand on his forehead. "You act as if his entry fee then was what yours could be now if you entered the Game as a Player. That isn't how it is. You already know that only the Composer can return an entry fee- and I mean, the _real _Composer. The rule in the Higher Plane is that only the current Composer of an area can give the entry fee back to the winner. And from what I know, you aren't the current _and _real Composer of Shibuya. Whatever your reason is for wanting to give Neku his entry fee back is beyond me though."

"I do not want to give Mr. Sakuraba his entry fee. It may be possible that I can- if the current Composer gives me the power to do so (9). Even if that power is given to me however, I will not return the boy's entry fee... _yet_. Should I have the power, I will give the fee back when it is the right time."

For the first time in many years, Sanae Hanekoma is confused. What in the world would she possibly gain from returning Neku's 'entry fee'? There wasn't any real point at all. There were no benefits for her, nor for Neku. Well, maybe. That's depends on how Neku would act. And he'd probably be freaked-the-hell-out.

* * *

><p><em><strong>"You already know why you are here, don't you?"<strong>__**  
><strong>_**"Yes, I do. What I have done has helped, however. It has had a positive effect."  
><strong>

**_"It was against our rules. Had you not violated many of them, you would not be here. Due to this Game, you have caused much damage, and have been a disappointment as a Composer."_  
><strong>

**_"And to add to the number of rules you have broken, you have broken one of the highest importance. How dare you form a bond with a Player! That has distracted you from your duties and ruined your performance."  
><em>**

**"It did not 'ruin' my performance. The bond was the reason for the Player's change, as well as mine. I have come to realize that people really can change, despite how difficult it may be."  
><strong>

**_"You had previously wanted to eliminate your city, did you not? That was your intention before that destructive Game had begun. In fact, you failed to complete the mission we had sent you. Your city had been ready to crumble beneath the citizens' feet. It had been filled with Greed, Envy, Hate, Unhappiness, and so on. Your main mission had been to end the city, where you would then start anew. The city you would create was meant to be exactly how your current city is now! Instead, you did not follow with your mission and began that disaster of a Game. Your city has changed, or is beginning to change little by little. The amount of Noise in the city has decreased very slightly, and some citizens' thoughts are starting to change as well. Overall, the change in the city is positive.  
><em>**

**_"However, that does not mean you have not violated many of our rules with such a Game. You did not follow the mission we had sent you specifically, and had started a Game that you yourself had participated in as an illegal Player! We do not need to list the number of rules you have broken. You must already know, and which ones you have violated._  
><strong>

**_"That proxy of yours is the only accomplishment you had in our eyes. And yet, that is the Player you have bonded with- something that is not meant to happen between a Composer and a Player! The proxy is not aware of his final entry fee- one which we intend for you to keep. That is only one part of the Punishment we have decided for you. The rest of the Punishment shall be decided. _****_ The proxy has had an effect on you, which is why we also intend on keeping the two of you apart. Should you come in contact again, you're time will be set. By then, your Punishment will be chosen. _****_Enjoy what time you have left as Composer, if it is even possible for you to feel enjoyment any longer."_**

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><p><strong>Words in Chapter without Author's Notes: 5,745<strong>

**Huh, well, I finally managed to cut down on words for once. But this chapter was so... _boring! _I'm sorry. This chapter doesn't make up for my long almost-three-week absence... But had I been gone for THREE weeks, it would fit with the Number theme of the story._  
><em>Hm, I still have that Sherlock BBC thing in my mind. Ah well. However, I still have space in my mind for TWEWY. In fact, I have been listening to the TWEWY soundtrack, and have added most of the game's songs on my iPod.**

**Oh, did I mention? I'm singing 'A Lullaby for You' in the school talent show next month! I still love the song, even though absolutely _no one_ in my school knows the song (T-T They don't know how much of a gem The World Ends with You really is). I also had a bit of Neku's "I don't get people" thing in my head at school these past few days. People in my school... yeah I am with Neku on that, I don't get those people. -_-  
><strong>

**On with Author's Notes. There's a lot of them...  
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**(1)~ Okay, you all should know that store. Many of the items seem to be for Joshua, which is the reason why I picked that store for the two to shop at. You'll be able to get stickers for Joshua in the actual game as well.  
><strong>

**(2)~ After the final boss battle (SPOILERS) before Joshua and Neku duel to see who will be Shibuya's Composer, Joshua states that he has 'already' taken Neku's entry fee. However, he doesn't actually state what it is. So, since I have seen that cutscene way too many times, I have decided to use that fact in the story.  
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**(3)~ I have no clue if Ramen Don actually has a kitchen... Meh, I am just going to say that. I didn't want Mr. Doi there listening to Josh and Neku's conversation.  
><strong>

**(4)~ That's something Joshua says to Neku during the second Week, when Neku begins to suspect that Joshua is his killer.  
><strong>

**(5)~ (FACT ONLY IN THIS STORY): Composers, since the person who is seeing the memory is actually in the Composer's mind, can see into the person's mind as well and see their own memories. Joshua, during the time Neku was viewing the memory of Saigo's erasure, had been looking at memories of Neku spending time with his own friends, seeing how great it was to really have friends. As stated by Hanekoma in the game and this story, Joshua had been lonely most of his life. So, being able to know how amazing it was to have friends but never having any himself made Joshua feel sad. Joshua does not know what feelings really are however (SEE NEXT NOTE)  
><strong>

**(6)~ (ANOTHER FACT IN THIS STORY ONLY): As stated by Hanekoma, Composers' feelings are taken. So, Joshua does not actually know the term for what he feels about not having friends but knowing about the benefits of having them: sadness.  
><strong>

**Your question might be: How can he giggle or laugh or smirk or smile then? Well, THAT question will be answered later.  
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**(7)~ Neku has no recollection of the entry fee Joshua had taken. He _knows _that Josh took the fee, but he doesn't know what the fee _is_.  
><strong>

**(8)~ Punishments are- well you know what they are! However, Punishments for _Composers _are much more 'meaningful' to them. The Punishment is somewhat like how a Player would feel about having the most precious thing taken away from them, but the Composers' can't feel. You'll understand later...  
><strong>

**(9)~ 'Replacement' Composers are not given all the powers the current Composer has. Some powers the Replacement can receive may only be given by the current Composer. So, Merodi does not have the power to return entry fees, due to the fact that she is only a Replacement for the duration of the Game. However, Joshua can give the power to her is he wants to. But, _does he want to_, and _is he willing to_?  
><strong>

**Well, that's it... OH, that bold section before this Author's Note! That... I can't tell you what it is! It all has to connect!  
>But you may be able to figure it out.<br>**

**Joshua :*Smirks*  
><strong>

**I've added the artwork for the Prologue on DeviantArt. I drew more TWEWY... but I'm trying to fix the scanner so I can add more... I really want to draw Neku and Joshua though!  
><strong>

**Well, let's all hope for a (better) new chapter next week... on Sunday, I promise!  
>Neku: You better. Can't be a lazy ass, now can you?<br>**

**Whatever! So, see you all on Sunday!  
><strong>

**-~With~-  
><strong>


	5. Friends and Feelings Part 2

**The World Ends with You Chapter 4**

**Neku: You. Ass.  
>Me: You know, you don't need to say a word!<br>**

**Neku: Right, ahem. You. LAZY. Ass.  
><strong>

**Oh for the love of the Composer! Oh wait, that love is for Neku~  
><strong>

**Neku: -_- Damn you.  
><strong>

**So... I AM SO SORRY. I really was going to update yesterday, but my brother came home and stayed in his room THE WHOLE DAY doing 'work' and sleeping. And unfortunately, I couldn't update or write for Saturday and Sunday. Damn. But luckily, I am updating now. Hopefully, this chapter can make up for it.  
><strong>

**As you can see, I added something to the Chapter's title. The title is practically the theme of the chapter(s) parts. There _will _finally be some kind of Neku/Joshua hint in this story! I wanted to finally get a hint of two, since this is the chapter where the two boys will start to bond again.  
><strong>

**From what I said in the last chapter, there will be memories in this chapter. The question is, _who's _memories? Also, the Conductor and the 'man' I mentioned in the last chapter _will definitely _appear in this one. I edited the AN in Part 1 to tell readers this.  
><strong>

**Another news I have is that I am currently writing one shots- one of them being Neku/Joshua. I have it on my Profile page, but the name is still being determined.  
><strong>

**Before I start the story, I would like to thank these people first:**

**lawn chair crisis for adding the story to Story Alerts and for their review (Shiki: I know! I am too. This Neku/Josh thing... {Me: Secret Yaoi Fan right there})**

**IceKyurem (Joshua: Hee hee, you're a smart person, aren't you?)  
><strong>

**otakoni for adding the story to story Alerts and for adding me to Author Alerts (Me: Thank you! :D)  
><strong>

**Okay, I want to write now!  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: The power to own TWEWY does not belong to me, and is still unknown. Square Enix and Jupiter both know and own the power.**

**Edit/Update: In my haste, I had forgotten someone in my list of thank yous! I would also like to thank AkiDreamz for adding this to story alerts! I was in a rush -_-;**

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><p><strong>Monday<br>**

**Friends and Feelings (Part 2)  
><strong>

"This one is quite appealing to me," Joshua says, looking at himself in the mirror inside the Fitting Room. He turns to his left and right, trying to see how the Yin Blazer looks at different angles. "Hm... I like this blazer. Makes me look and feel like a real Composer."

"Ha ha, very funny," Neku mocks outside of the room. The boy hears the Composer's comments through the door, and is hoping that he can pick something to buy so that they can leave. Shopping is still not something Neku enjoys doing. He hopes that they'll be out by the noon so that they can get to Ramen Don to have lunch with Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme. Last time he checked the time, it was 10:15. They still have time, but after the number of times Neku had to take Joshua shopping during the Game and how long it took the ash blonde to purchase one item, Neku didn't know when they'd be leaving. "Hard to believe you can make a joke about that." _After all, you **are **Shibuya's Composer._

"Well Neku, you can see why this makes me look like one if you come in here." Joshua flips his hair and adjusts the blazer so that it looks its best on him before walking to the door. He pulls the door open and Neku, who had been standing in front of it, is yanked inside by the huge, baggy collar of his shirt. Joshua closes the door as Neku lands on his back in front of the mirror. He hit his head on the mirror while he fell, not too hard but not too softly either.

"Ow! Ugh, damn Josh..." Neku says, rubbing the back of his head underneath the spikes of his hair that stood up. "You didn't have to pull me in here like that."

"I didn't want to hurt your pretty little head, but I think you have taken much more harder blows by Noise. At least it hasn't messed up your vision, or your mind. You can still see how this blazer looks on me, which is a good thing for you." Neku hears a giggle on the other side of the rather small room. He looks up and sees Joshua standing in front of the closed door with one hand in his black jean pocket. The Yin Blazer actually looks nice on the Composer, in Neku's opinion. The blazer fits the boy, the jet black sleeves hugging his skinny arms. It seems to fit his body too, the blazer showing the curves of his hips. Joshua's dark jeans match the Yin Blazer, showing how skinny and long his legs are. Neku stares at him, the orange haired boy's eyes looking at every detail now.

Joshua clears his throat, attempting to get Neku's attention. His ex-proxy doesn't do so, so Joshua chooses to say what will obviously catch the boy's attention. "Neku, you're staring. You're making me blush! I think you like how this looks on me, considering how you're paying more attention to my body in it."

Neku glares at the boy after hearing his words. "Shut up! I wasn't staring! I was just trying to see why you would possibly think that it looks good on you. It doesn't. _That didn't help_, Neku berated himself in his mind.

"From what I think, you appear to _like_ how this looks on me. Not a surprise to my exceptionally amazing looks." Joshua flips his hair, smirking at the other boy.

"From what I think, you're just gloating now," Neku says crossing his arms. He just realizes that he's still sitting on the ground. Joshua giggles, but Neku knows he's not actually laughing. Or at least, Neku knows that he doesn't feel laughter or the need to do so. _Wish he didn't laugh when he can't feel it at all._

Joshua immediately stops giggling, as if he had heard Neku's thoughts. He clears his throat again and turns his gaze to his right at the wall instead of at his ex-proxy. There is a short silence between them, one that makes Neku feel uncomfortable. The orange haired boy looks at the Composer's face and sees that there is no emotion on it. There was only a blank expression. _I bet he can read my thoughts then. Of course he can, he's the Composer for crying out loud! He has the power to!__  
><em>"Yes, I do, Neku. However, I don't want to use that power very often this week, so I shall use it quite rarely. Or only when I think I should. For instance, your thoughts moments ago during our silence was an appropriate time to use that power," Joshua answers without glancing at the boy. Neku notices that his eyebrows lower, his face resembling a frown. "I know you spoke to Sanae about this topic."

"How?"

"Neku, I, being the Composer and all, can hear all of the words spoken and thoughts in Shibuya. I can hear them all in my head, and I can listen to certain people. There are so many people in Shibuya, filled with different emotions and minds. I know about the so called 'disappearance' of 777 that was discussed after the Game had ended. I know about the death of a teen in the city last week. Much of the thoughts I've heard last week involved that specific death. It had been under mysterious circumstances, but on the contrary, I know the truth behind it, and who had caused it. That teenager is now a Player, and is playing the Game right now for this Week. They are doing quite well.

"Anyway, like my power to hear all thoughts in Shibuya, I will rarely use these Powers. If I do not want to attract Noise to specific locations because of my presence, I must not overuse them. Using them will bring even more Noise, and considering the news of Taboo Noise returning, it'll be dangerous for the Players _and _us. Many of the Players are still getting use to their own abilities, and I do not want to have their erasure occurring so early. I want to have a winner this week and see who is good enough to even have a second chance at life."

"Oh. I guess I forgot about that... Wait... Taboo Noise? The Taboo Noise are back?" Neku asks in surprise.

"Mhm. Merodi had reported this to me only yesterday. I know the source. I suppose you do as well?"

"Yeah I do. And I think I should have known before. You didn't really 'retire' him."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Joshua turned to Neku, giving him his full attention.

The orange haired boy sighs, remembering the Grim Heaper's body. "See, me, Beat, and Shiki found him before battling the previous Conductor. He was crushed under a soda machine and car, and he looked like he was... well, dead."

The Composer grimaced. _How had I not known? Now I see why he has returned_, _and that he really had survived my attack. _"Merodi was correct then. Sho Minamimoto has returned, and is now out for revenge."

"Why would he kill someone in the RG? Is he trying to get revenge by wrecking Shibuya?"

"That is a possibility. However, he must still have the same motive for wrecking havoc. He is obviously still after my position. That is quite clear. He may be trying to cause trouble in the city, maybe distress among the people, in order to catch the Angels' attention. If they see the city in such a horrible state once again, they may think about a more severe Punishment for me."

"Punishment?"

"I shall tell you later, Neku." Joshua steps in front of the boy on the ground, looking at himself in the mirror. Neku is still sitting in between the mirror and the ash blonde haired boy, the Composer standing tall and high above him. He knows that this conversation is over, but he will ask about it later. Maybe when they're back at his home, he'll ask. "This is definitely what I am buying Neku."

Neku asks (even though he will regret it), "How much is the Yin Blazer?" Joshua crouches down and feels around the sleeve of the blazer covering his wrist. He pulls the price tag out of it and holds the tag in front of the other boy's face. Clearly, Neku would freak out, which he does. He grips the hand holding the tag and, with an incredibly red face and a glare, shouts, "_You want me to pay 45,000 Yen for this blazer?_"

"Hee hee hee, of course Neku! I said I wanted it, didn't I? You have enough Yen, don't you?" Joshua asks with a smirk. "Because if you don't-"

"How can I _possibly _have 45000 Yen right now? Sure I had that much for the Game, or even more than that. But obviously my parents had to go and use that money they never knew they 'had' to pay for the business trips- which clearly pisses me off! So, explain to me, Josh, how I am going to have that much money on me!"

"If you had allowed me to finish my sentence," Joshua continued with a slight laugh while reaching into his jean pocket, "I would give you money." He takes his hand out and opens it in front of the ex-Player. On his palm are many 10,000 and 5,000 Yen Pins. "You see, I already knew you didn't have the Yen to buy this. So, I went ahead and had these Pins brought down from Merodi. She is willing to do that for me." _Or do anything for me, _the Composer adds in his head. "Turn these in for the Yen and buy this Yin Blazer when I come out, will you?"

"So... you lied to me about having to pay for you? Man, you gave me a heart attack!"

"Well let's hope you don't die Neku. Wouldn't want you in the Game again after the last one you were in." Joshua held out his other hand, a sign for Neku to take it to get back on his feet. The orange haired boy sighs and takes it, being pulled up and now standing again. Joshua holds onto the boy's hand and puts all of the Pins on his palm, letting go. The Composer then waves his hand to the door. "Now, go on. No need for you to watch me change out of this. Unless you want to watch me undress, hee hee."

"Shut up," Neku replies, eliciting a giggle from Joshua. For some reason, Neku doesn't like that he giggles. It's not because that the boy laughing irritates and annoys Neku, but it's because he knows it's not real. _Don't laugh unless you mean it._ He walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. When the door is shut and the Composer is alone in the room, Joshua ends his laughter.

He slowly unbuttons the blazer, thinking as he does so. _So, Neku does not want me to 'laugh' due to my inability to feel. Hm. Odd. This affects me somehow... What is this emotion... Damn the Ones Above. I can no longer identify this emotion... Idiotic Punishment. _Joshua shrugs the blazer off of his shoulders, taking his arms out of the sleeves. He didn't remember that he did not have anything underneath of his usual white button down shirt, so he realizes how cold it is in the room. The boy shivers. _If only They had taken away the ability to feel cold. It is freezing in this room. _The Composer picks up his shirt and puts his arms through the short sleeves, beginning to button the shirt starting from the bottom. Once he finishes, he takes a look at himself in the mirror, parting his hair in the middle. He frowns at the usual strands of hair that stay on close to the middle of his forehead. "It'll have to do," Joshua says, evaluating his overall appearance. He puts the Yin Blazer back on its hanger, smoothing the front and its sleeves out, before leaving the room. Neku is standing right in front of it, and the two are standing face to face when the Composer opens the door.

"Well, don't we have something to buy?" he says, holding up the blazer.

"Yeah, 'we'." Neku takes the hanger and walks to the counter, Joshua walking behind him with a smirk.

"What would you like to purchase today, sir?" Jun Odajima asks with a pleased smile. Neku and Joshua (well, mainly Joshua) had gone shopping at Import Stylings during the Game, often times buying items. Soon, Joshua and Neku had become friends with the man. The shop owner was happy to see two valued customers return to his store.

"We'd like to buy one Yin Blazer," Neku answers, placing the blazer on the counter neatly. Mr. Odajima looks at the tag, and Neku hands four 10,000 Yen Pins and one 5,000 Yen Pin to the adult.

"Thank you, sir. It surprises me to see a young man like you have so much money on your hands."

"I've got a good friend with me." Neku gestures to Joshua, who had been looking at the other clothes on hangers around the store. He already knows that the Composer heard him, seeing how the boy froze at 'friend'. Clearly, Mr. Odajima had not noticed.

"You are quite lucky then, to have a friend such as him- someone willing to give you so much Yen to purchase such an expensive item." The shop owner places the Yin Blazer in a plastic bag and hands the bag to Neku. Smiling, the man says, "I look forward to your next visit, sir. As well as you, Mr. Kiryu."  
>Joshua nods to him and replies, "Nice to see your store again, Mr. Odajima. We'll come when we can."<p>

**T..W...E...W...Y..**

Shiki walks through the streets, holding Mr. Mew. She wanted to take a walk today, and wanted to walk alone for the first time.

It is still 11:00, and there was only an hour left until it was time to eat lunch at Ramen Don's with Neku, Beat, Rhyme, Eri... _And Joshua_. Shiki grimaces at the Composer's name- if it is his real name. It is hard to believe that the boy would come to the RG. She never expected the 'friend' Neku wanted to meet was the Composer. How could Neku possibly call his killer his friend? After the events of the Game, when they all started hanging out, Neku had told her and Beat about his death at the hands of Joshua. Rhyme had not known that the boy they met was the Composer, and since Shiki and Beat (and Neku) cared for her, they chose not to tell her about Joshua killing him. The girl had already lost her dreams because of the Game, so why let her know who was the one who had taken the dreams away in the first place?

Shiki knows she can't trust Joshua. _At all. _The Composer shot Neku and brought him into the Game because he was the person that would determine whether Shibuya would live or 'shut down'. The Composer was the one would had tricked Neku the whole time and had made him think his new 'friend' was 'erased'. Joshua shot Neku _again_ after Mr. Kitaniji had been erased- someone who turned out to really _love Shibuya. _Mr. Kitaniji was the one who had wanted to keep Shibuya alive, and Joshua had made him get erased because he had ran out of time. And the sad thing was, Shibuya had been saved, and Kitaniji was not alive to see it continue its life. Joshua was the reason for Neku's pain during that Game.

And yet, Joshua was the reason for Neku ever getting the chance to change who he was and how he saw Shibuya, as well as the people in it. But that was the _**only**_ thing Shiki would _ever _thank him for. What else could she thank him for? From what Neku had told her and Beat, Joshua was not a person she felt she could trust. The boy is a liar, and does that quite often. He tricks people, and has motives beyond what he leads on. The Composer also seems annoying, laughing at irritating his ex-'proxy'. There is something that made her feel _a little _sympathy for him. And that thing is the fact that he could not have feelings or feel emotions. When he said that, Shiki felt a little sorry for him. But still... was that the **truth**? Or was it another lie? Either way, she still felt sympathy...

Shiki looks around Scramble Crossing. She sees all of the random people in the crowds, some in a hurry to get to their destination, some chatting with their friends and holding shopping bags. She tries to make her way through the huge mass of people in front of her, gripping Mr. Mew in case he fell out of her hands. The brown haired girl glances around and-

**Neko Street****  
><strong>"What?" Shiki turns around, looking left and right. _Where did that come from? Then again, Neku lives there... Maybe we can talk! On the other hand..._

**Three's a crowd****  
><strong>_Okay, why'd that pop up? Three's a crowd...  
><em>She moves quickly through the crowd, saying 'sorry!' and 'excuse me!' when she bumps into people. When she is finally in a small clearing she turns around, looking around her to see if she saw anyone suspicious watching her. That may be strange, but that strange person could be the reason why she had those two thoughts appear in her head. However, Shiki spots a head of spiky orange hair walking towards towards Shibu Department Store. Her heart skips a beat immediately and a grin appears on her face. It disappears when she also sees a boy with ash blonde hair, black jeans, and a white shirt walking alongside Neku. Her grin turns into a frown, and she starts to contemplate. _I really want to talk to Neku... but not when **he's **around. That sounds mean but it's the truth.. Following him wouldn't be bad, would it? Then again, I'll actually be a stalker! But-! Oh, I'm gonna follow! I want to talk to Neku and hang out a bit before going to Ramen Don! _Shiki quickly followed the two boys, staying a few feet away with them still in sight. She really _has _become a stalker.

She doesn't want to be seen, and she dodges the people heading in the opposite direction. Shiki follows the two until they get to Towa Records. Neku and the Composer make a turn right, Shiki not far behind them. She doesn't see a blue haired girl give her a smirk as she passes by.

Neku and Joshua down Neko Street, appearing to be talking about something. Even though Neko Street was much more quieter, Shiki could not hear what they were saying. Neku seems to get annoyed by something Joshua says, since he punches Joshua in the shoulder. The Composer feigns pain, appearing to be whining while holding his left shoulder. Shiki rolls her eyes, surprising herself. _When did I start to act different? ... Oh right, Joshua...__  
><em>The two boys soon stand in front of Neku's home, and Neku is about to enter when Joshua stops him. "I think it is a good time to tell you, Neku, that we are being followed." Shiki stops breathing, knowing that she's been caught. The Composer doesn't turn around, since he knows who has been following them. He smirks and grabs Neku's shoulders, turning the boy around to face his fr-... Ms. Misaki.

"Shiki? Hey, what's up?" Neku greets her casually. "What are you doing here? We all are gonna meet up in forty five minutes at Ramen Don for lunch!"

Shyly, Shiki replies, "I wanted to um... hang out before lunch. Or you know, just talk. But I can see that you already have company." She gestures towards Joshua, who's smirk immediately drops at the end of her sentence. She raises an eyebrow at this, and feels slightly guilty about possibly making the boy feel bad. _If he can feel at all. But did he read my mind? Or did he know what I really meant?__  
><em>"It's fine. You can stay with us. We're just coming back here and staying here until we leave for Ramen Don." Neku smiles, and Shiki replies with an "Okay". Neku enters the house first and Joshua waits for Shiki to go inside. She stops when she is in front of the Composer and looks at him with a serious face. He returns the look, although he appears to be frowning with a hint of something on his face. Maybe sadness? ... No, it couldn't be. Shiki walks into the house, Joshua behind her closing the door.

"So, uh, I'm just going to head up to my room right now. My mom called and I didn't know, and she won't stop until I answer and her break time is over. I'll be back, so you guys just get comfortable down here," Neku told him. He takes his cell phone out of his pocket and goes upstairs, leaving Joshua and Shiki alone in the living room. Joshua waves his hand towards the two sofas on either side of the coffee table in the middle of the room. Shiki sits on one sofa while Joshua sits on the other across from her. They stay like that for only a minute.

"Well say something!" Shiki says, annoyed that the Composer has absolutely nothing to say to her. "You know, you can talk to me right?"

"Hm?" Joshua, who had been staring at his shoes, looks up at her with a bored expression. "Oh, you were saying something? I was not paying attention."

"Why is it that you're silent all of a sudden, but you'll talk to Neku?"

"Ms. Misaki, why does that matter to you? I know you are not fond of me, so why bother speaking to you if talking to me irritates you?"

"First, my name is just _Shiki_. You should know that since you spoke to me last time and Neku said it not too long ago. Second, it matters because considering how your Neku's... '_friend_', I think I should try to be friends with you. And third, I should speak to you if that means that I can be friends with you at all. And this gives you a chance to make a real friend!" _It doesn't seem like you have any._

Joshua suddenly lowers his gaze to the coffee table and glared at it.

"What is it with you? Why is it that when I even say a sentence with the word 'friend' in it, you immediately look angry or sad?" Shiki asks. This time, she is actually a little curious about it. "I thought you didn't feel anything. I thought you didn't feel emotions. You said that at Hachiko."

"I know I did," Joshua snaps, not looking up at her. "I do not even know what emotions feel like... I think." He mumbled his last two words.

"You don't feel anything on the inside?"

"To be honest- and I mean it- I _have_. However, I do not know what to call it. I have felt something. I am not sure what the emotion is, and I am not curious enough about it to want to decipher what it is."

"Oh... Have you felt anything like your heart skipping a beat? Or... maybe you feel the need to smile and like your heart is about to explode?" the girl holding Mr. Mew asks, suddenly hugging Mr. Mew to her chest. The Composer knows why she asks this.

He returns his gaze to her and replies calmly, "I know why you want to know this. You obviously care about a _certain someone_ that way. I believe he should care for you the same way."

"Feel."

"Hm?"

"You mean, _feel_ the same way. I don't just care about him. I... _feel _something for him. Something _more _than just friendship. Sure, it's only been three weeks since the Game ended, but we've grown closer since then. We were partners and he was still my friend even when he saw the real me. And we've hung out together a lot. I'm not sure how he feels, but I know that I care about him more than a friend." Shiki watches the Composer waiting for his answer. _Wait a minute... Did I just tell **Joshua** this?_ Shiki realizes in her head. _I did! My gosh, __what if he tells him? Neku... what if he rejects me? What if he thinks I'm not brave because I didn't tell him myself! _"You better not tell Neku about this Joshua! Don't tell him anything I said!"

"I was not going to do such a thing. Despite what you think of me, _Shiki_, I am not willing to tell him. If you think, this is actually my 'friendly gesture' to you. Since this 'friendship' bond is so important to you, I suppose I should at least return the favor."

"... You don't have many friends, do you?" Shiki questions. "You act... strange with other people. Meanwhile, it's like you and Neku... You're fine with him. I don't get it."

"You would not understand. Composers are not meant to bond with Players. They are not supposed to be connected in any way. It is against a rule for the Composer. That is all I can say without explaining too much. There is much more to being a Composer, and much more restrictions as well."

"Wait... Bonds... So bonds are _friendships_?"

A door slams upstairs, causing Shiki to jump in her seat. Joshua didn't react in any way, and only watches the girl's reaction. He turns his gaze to the stairs as Shiki does the same. Neku walks down the steps with a frown and leans against the wall facing the two other people. He sighs, appearing to be frustrated. "My dad, damn him. Mom, she is just way too worried about me." He says this quietly, but loud enough for Joshua and Shiki to hear- which he wanted them to. "I think we should get going now," he tells them as he checks his phone for the time. "It's 11:45 already. By the time we get to Ramen Don, it should be 12 o'clock."

"Okay, let's go," Shiki says cheerfully, feeling excited about meeting up with Beat and Rhyme. Neku smiles at her, causing her to smile even bigger. He opens the door and heads out, but waits for his two friends to come out on the sidewalk. Shiki stands up and is about to head outside but sees Joshua still sitting on the couch. She holds a hand out and gives him a smaller smile, since she wasn't comfortable with the boy yet. _Better than nothing_, she tells herself. _Best __be nice to him._ He looks at her hand and then at her. After a moment, he sighs and takes it, being pulled onto his feet. The Composer follows the girl outside, Neku waiting for them with a grin. He starts ahead of them, and seems to want to walk alone for a bit. Shiki understands after his reaction to talking to his parents. Joshua simply continues walking, although farther behind from either of them.

Shiki notices and slows down, Neku not noticing. She walks alongside the ash blonde haired boy, occasionally glancing at him. He doesn't look at her though, and keeps moving. They are almost at Towa Records when Shiki watches Joshua and thinks, _Composers... can't have friendships? That's... sad._ That time, he looks back at her, and Shiki knows she sees some tiny hint of sadness in his eyes. She knows the Composer can feel what sadness really feels like on the inside. And sadly, he doesn't even know what he feels _is _sadness.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Time<strong>:_ 12:07 PM

_**Game**: 2nd Week  
><em>

_**Day**: 2_**  
><strong>

_What... What the hell? Did I just see myself... dead? At Udagawa? ... If that was in his head, he was definitely there! Had he seen me die or... Did he do more than just watch my death? Could he... _Neku tried to think clearly, gripping his head. He had scanned Joshua's mind and had seen something. He had seen Udagawa, and CAT's mural. Then, he saw his dead body. Joshua had that in his mind... and how had Neku been able to scan him? He had scanned him the day before but still... What was this kid? A Player? A Reaper? _I can ask him. It's the only way. But not yet. Obviously he won't tell me now, since it's only our second day. Later I will, when I get a good opportunity._

"Oh Neku?" Joshua called as he waved a hand in front of his Partner's face. "Feeling alright? You seem to be off already."

"... I'm fine."

"Let's hope you are. We don't need you to be weak for the Day do we?"

_Shut up, you ass. I'm stronger than you in battles. Hard to believe you can lift your hands with those twigs you call arms. They're skinnier than mine!  
><em>

Neku's phone beeped suddenly. "The mission!" He took his phone out of his pocket and began to read it aloud to Joshua. "The mission is to-"

"Say Neku? I have a small proposal. Why not skip the mission today? Let's allow the other Players to complete it themselves."

"_What_? Why would I ever do that! If we don't finish the mission, we're going to be erased!"

"The other Players will handle it. It's not like you have anything to do for the day. There's some place _I _want to go to however. While the Players take care of whatever the mission is, we go where I want to, since you don't have any intention of going somewhere yourself."

"No way! There is just _no way_ I am going to risk this! If the other Players **don't **do this when we don't, we'll be finished! I can't afford that!"

"What's the problem in letting someone else take care of this? Why are you so determined to complete the mission? It will be awfully easier than the next missions we'll get this Week."

"I am not playing this Game for me anymore! I'm doing this for someone else's sake! ... For **_her _**life. I'm playing for her now," Neku answered, frustrated. He explained what had happened to Shiki, how she had been the winner and was his entry fee. He was sad during that event, and immediately knew that he would be participating to prevent Shiki from really losing her life. She really had become the most important thing to him during that Week. However, when Joshua only went "Hmph" after the end of the story, Neku angrily said, "What do you mean 'hmph'?"

"Neku, you already know that people have to sacrifice things to enter this Game to win their second chance at life. People always make sacrifices. You are no different. Your previous partner is no different. _I'm _one of those people as well. We all must lose something at some point, and entering the Reapers Game is one point. An entry fee is a sacrifice made by the Player, just because of how important they or it is. Sad stories don't change that, and all Players make a sacrifice. No need to feel sympathetic over something that will continue happening over and over again."

"You inconsiderate-!" Neku stopped himself, trying to calm himself down. _No, I have to be calm. I don't want to start a problem or an argument with him. We've got to work together, so I can't start anything with him. I just have to sort something out with him, make a deal he'll agree with. Here goes... _"What about this? Once we complete the mission for the day, we do what you want. Anything. We could go to that place you wanted to see."_  
><em>

"Hm..." Joshua thought about the idea for a moment, and replies, "It's a deal. Just know that you'll owe me one later on this Week. So what's the mission?"

Neku sighed and looked at his phone to see the message. "It says..."

* * *

><p><em>Man... I really hated him during that Week. I knew why, but later on, we almost understood each other, <em>Neku thinks as he walks. He is almost at Towa Records, and the building is coming up on his left. _I don't know why I started to think of that Day, or why it popped up in my head. Could a Player have imprinted me again?... No, they couldn't have. From my time as a Player, I know I can only imprint ideas. Players can't imprint memories or anything like that._

Far behind him are Joshua and Shiki. Joshua had not looked at Shiki at all since the last time he did. Shiki still continued to glance at him, but less frequently. She didn't know why she kept doing so, but she guesses it is because of their talk and the sympathy she had started to feel for him. Not having any friends is not a good thing at all for a person. Someone has to have a friend somewhere. _Maybe we could be friends... I can't believe I just thought that was a good idea. He is Neku's killer. Even if I have sympathy for this guy, I can't get too close to him._ Shiki looked at the Composer again._ But still... No feelings either. And not knowing what happiness or sadness is. I can't imagine myself without feelings or friends, especially with such great ones like Neku, Eri, Beat, and Rhyme! Joshua doesn't have them as friends though... I should reach out to him. It's obvious Neku has already. Why not give it a shot? ... As long as I don't get too close to him!_

* * *

><p>"Neku! Joshua! Shiki!" Rhyme shouts with a sweet, cheerful smile on her face. She waves at the three teens who just entered Dogenzaka.<p>

"Yo man," Beat greets Neku, giving him a fist bump. "What up Shiki? Eri's inside already! She got Mr. Doi to make the ramen already! Let's hurry up!" Shiki grins and runs inside, wanting to see her friend. Neku turns and starts to walk to the entrance of Ramen Don. Beat cautiously says to Joshua, "Hey. You comin' or what?" The orange haired boy stops and turns back to the other two.

_Come on... Be nice, **please**,_ Neku thinks in his head, hoping there won't be a problem. Joshua's eyes are on Neku for a second before he snaps his attention back to Beat. The Composer crosses his arms over his chest and replies, "Yes, I suppose." The three of them just stand there, and Beat is starting to frown. Neku has his eyebrows raised, wondering what Joshua is doing.

"Josh? Let's go." Neku waves at the boy, telling the boy to come over now.  
>Joshua sighs and walks past Beat and Neku into Ramen Don. When the ash blonde is gone, Beat follows Neku inside, telling him, "Ya know, priss kid's pretty... weird Phones. What's up with him?"<p>

"Don't know. Still trying to figure it out."

"... He better not try somethin', man. If he does, I'm ready for whateva' he's got!"

"Beat, he won't do anything. I swear he won't. Besides, he doesn't even have most of his powers to use, so he can't pull anything anyway." The two boys walk inside and sit at the booth their friends (and the Composer) are sitting at. Rhyme had left enough room for her brother to sit next to her, and Shiki and Eri had moved over enough to make space for Neku. When Neku sits down, he notices that there isn't space for Joshua and frowns.

"Hey, can we move down to make space for-?" Neku starts to ask the girls sharing the seat with him.

Joshua however interrupts. "No no. It's fine Neku. I'll sit in the booth next to this one." Rhyme and Eri look sad as they watch him sit alone in the next booth, right behind Neku. Shiki turns her head just as Mr. Doi comes by with their ramen bowls.

"Joshua?" the girl holding Mr. Mew calls. Turning his head, he looks at her with the bored expression he usually wears (when she's around). "We can make move down more so that you can sit over here with us. I don't want you to sit by yourself. Eri, could you..?"

Eri nods with a smile and shifts closer to the wall, leaving enough room for Joshua to sit at the end of the booth next to his ex-proxy. The Composer gives the two of them a kind smile. Eri returns it, while Shiki does the same, but hesitantly. Now she knows that his smiles really are fake, since he can't feel emotions. Neku knows this as well and, on the inside, feels as if he is frowning.

Mr. Doi sets all of the bowls of ramen on the table. Grinning, he says, "Do any of you kids want anything else?"

Since the others were already digging into their ramen, Neku answers for them. "No, we're all okay."

"That's good! It's nice to see people enjoying my ramen, especially a large group of friends like you all!" Mr. Doi chuckles. Next to him, Neku's eyes catch Joshua freeze when Mr. Doi says 'friends'. _He reacted to that word again... _"I hope you have a good time here!" The restaurant owner walks to the counter and takes out his own bowl of ramen to eat: Mystic Ramen.

Neku proceeds to eat his own ramen, but briefly looks at Joshua. The ash blonde haired boy appears to be glaring at his own bowl of ramen, and Neku notes that he is biting his lower lip. _What is he thinking about?_ Immediately, the Composer shakes his head slightly and slowly, beginning to eat his food. _Another thing to ask him later... _Neku starts to eat his lunch after putting that mental note in his head.

* * *

><p>"So, radian, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be out here all alone."<p>

"I am not alone. I came here on a walk, and by chance there are no citizens around us. It is a surprise to meet you, Mr. Minamimoto."

"I don't even know- or give a factor- who you are. Why would pretty little radian like you be out here without a companion in front of me?"

"There is no reason for me to meet you. This meeting was by chance. However, Mr. Minamimoto, you appear to be slightly different from when the Composer had met you." The whole empty West Exit Bus Terminal's silence is broken by the sound of ground being cracked. Sho stomps the ground beneath his feet angrily at the Composer being mentioned. "I see that you want revenge after the Game that had ended three weeks ago?"

"So _zetta slow_, aren't you? Of course I do! Against him and that factoring hectopascal he calls a proxy! Those two sons a' digits are gonna pay!"

"I have no intention of helping nor hurting you."

"Then why're you still here, miss radian? You're no use, so to what power are you of any use?"

"None. You appear to still enjoy using mathematical terms."

"Definitely. But that's not something important to you. So, get out of here you useless yoctogram!"

"You are claiming I am a Player? You only use that term to describe Players."

"Ha ha ha, so-cah-toa. If you're sayin' that, I guess you're not one. But if you're not one of those digits in the equation, what are you then?"

"Simple really. I am the new Conductor of Shibuya. And you will not lay a finger on me, because I am the temporary Composer."

* * *

><p><strong>Word Count: 6676 (without Author's Notes)<strong>

**Well, I finished... AND I AM ZETTA SLOW.  
><strong>

**I had intended on updating on Sunday but I failed. Shoot me (no not literally, Joshua).  
><strong>

**Anyways, no mini Author's Notes this time. I wanted to finish this chapter up quickly, but due to how long this has gotten, I am making 'Monday' three parts. The next chapter is the last part of Monday, and the chapter after it will be the start of Tuesday.  
><strong>

**Now, I know how badly I wrote Sho -_-. Man, I can't believe I can't write for him! Zetta fail. And I have been listening to TWEWY music the whole time!  
><strong>

**SO, the part about Joshua and Shiki... While writing their conversation, I felt like I was writing Shiki/Joshua 0.0 It was... weird. I don't know, I wanted Shiki and Joshua to interact already, but it feels like I rushed it.  
><strong>

**And close to the ending where they were eating lunch, I will finish in the next chapter! On Sunday, I mean it this time! I have to get back to the 'update every week' thing I mentioned earlier.  
><strong>

**Okay, I want to add this chapter now soooo bad! Bye bye readers! See you next week!  
><strong>

**-~All~-  
><strong>


	6. Friends and Feelings Part 3

**The World Ends with You Chapter 5**

**Me: Ugh, why the hell do I keep doing this?  
><strong>

**Shiki: Well, you _have _been really busy. And you missed a day of school... _willingly_!  
><strong>

**Joshua: Aren't those people such a pain?  
><strong>

**Me: School... yeah, they are. And YES, I HAVE BEEN BUSY.  
><strong>

**My (Neku: _incredibly long_) absence is because I had been _so _busy!  
><strong>

**I had to go to Confirmation practice, and I had to miss a Concert Band rehearsal because it was on the same day as Confirmation! And I missed school since I went with my Mother to my Brother's Graduation from Rowan University. And _then _I had a Concert to perform the day _aft_er Confirmation. And _THEN _I had a book report for Language Arts due on June 1st (and I hadn't even finished reading. Shame.). And I had a trip week for History to learn about Genocide... and then do (and present) a project _about _a Genocide that was due before EXAMS at the end of the school year. And we have to PRESENT IT. UGH. I am so irritated this month. Well except for yesterday (5-25-12) because I sang in my School's Talent Show! Can you guess what (TWEWY) song I sang?... Okay, I'll just tell you. I sang Lullaby for You. I've always wanted to sing that song in the talent show since I bought TWEWY! Buuuut no, i didn't win :\ However, one of the girls who threatened my teacher last year... was tied for first. Yes, my school is... very... odd.  
><strong>

**Neku: So, _anyway_.  
><strong>

**-_- So, this chapter will _obviously _start off from where the last chapter ended. That means the story will begin with the lunch at Ramen Don scene and the conversation between the Conductor/Replacement Composer and Sho. There are different memories in this one (a lot), and for different people. The current scene will switch between the Conversation and Neku and his friends (Joshua: You mean, group.).  
><strong>

** I thank:**

**Book Thief101 for the review! Ha ha, I loved your review! When I read it, it had me continue writing! :D Hee hee hee, 'Joshua's soon-to-be-future-love-life' indeeeeeed. :))  
><strong>

** AkiDreamz for the review! I hope that I can get the two more time to bond in the next chapter! I failed in this one :\  
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**RistarFruit, foreveramuto98, and Sharauril for adding this story to their Favorite Stories lists! Thanks a lot! :)  
><strong>

**Abyssus Angelus for adding the story to their Story Alerts list! It's a good thing too, because I don't know when I am going to update yet!**

**I hope I didn't miss anyone! I'm truly sorry if I did! ... REALLY SORRY IF I DID, I MEAN IT! **

**Also, I just realized that the longer I _don't _update this story in particular, the more the number 104 appears somehow. Over my whole absence from being able to update this story, the number 104 appears randomly and just pops up in some way. I got the number as the amount of Battle Pin Points in the game for numerous chain battles, I saw it as my grade for one of my old science tests, while I played Skyrim ****(I know. Arrow to the knee... I'm a girl, don't judge me)**** it showed up as the amount of damage one of my weapons caused, and... yeah. Hard to believe that number shows up so much in a person's life after they buy TWEWY... but man, i feel like it's supposed to be a reference or it's telling me to update! O.O  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: In no way do I own The World Ends with You... Yeah, I don't feel like elaborating on who owns it.**

* * *

><p><strong>Monday<br>**

****Friends and Feelings (Part 3)****

****Time: _12:30_  
><strong>**

"So, Joshua, what have you been up to lately? Have you hung out with someone?" Eri queries after swallowing some of her Miso ramen. There was a long silence between... well, everyone in the group before she had spoken. She had been planning on questioning the ash blonde with Rhyme, since Neku, Shiki, and Beat appear to know the boy more than they do. Eri is curious about Joshua... and why Shiki and Beat treat him somewhat different than Neku does. Perhaps learning more about Joshua will help Eri understand their treatment of him, or show her reasons why she should really make friends with him.

Joshua looks up from his bowl of Shio ramen and answers, "I've been spending most of my time with Neku. My family lives here, but I never stay in the house with anyone, not like there is anyone to stay with. Mother and Father were either _at _work or were too busy doing their work at _home_. They never paid much attention to me, if at all, when I was around. Rarely, they would say good morning. But never good night or good bye whenever they left for work." Eri didn't respond or comment, wanting to hear the rest of the boy's answer. There was a barely visible sad smile on her face. Perhaps that was why some people were so distant from others, or acted so mean to the people around them. Neku and Shiki are both eating their ramen, but are listening to the boy. "I don't have many-" _Friends! _"-people to be with. Neku and I had breakfast here today, and we then went to Import Stylings, where we purchased a Yin Blazer."

"Only one? I mean, I know they're expensive, but who was going to keep it?"

"I had told Neku he should have it, but he insisted that I keep the blazer, due to his quite kind heart."

Neku rolls his eyes. _Sure I did.__  
><em>"Do you guys have any plans later?" Eri asks after swallowing some ramen.

"No, we don't. Do we, Neku?"

"We do not, "Neku immediately says, "Why do you ask Eri?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could all hang out! Walk around Shibuya for a while? We could get to know you better, and I think me and Rhyme definitely need to since we're the only ones who didn't know you until Sunday. I don't have a clue what we'd do, but we'll think of something!"

Shiki grins, agreeing with Eri's plan. "That's a great idea! All of us can hang out together as a group! Maybe we'll learn more about you, Joshua."

"Where should we go first?" Rhyme asks them with a smile. The girl is looking forward to spending time with everyone in the group, as well as the ash blonde boy sitting beside Neku.

"Hmm..." Joshua appears to be thinking, crossing his arms and tapping his chin with his finger. A smile crosses his lips. "We should go to Stride. I know the Tin Pin maniacs are there. It will be amusing and entertaining to watch a certain Tin Pin master play with them. Neku, you know who I'm talking about."

"No way Josh. I don't play Tin Pin now," the orange haired boy responds. He still has the Pins he normally used for Tin Pin during the second Week of the Game in his room, kept in a clear plastic bag underneath his pillow. Those Pins helped him win multiple slam offs when Shooter, and sometimes Yammer, constantly challenged him for a rematch- which the 'fifth grader' always lost.

"When we 'slammed off' against each other before, you won. As much as I hate to admit it, you practically beat me into a broken Pin during that match. Despite you not playing Tin Pin, I bet you can still defeat Shooter on your first try. His companion, Yammer, could be your warm up opponent, due to your many victories against him in the past."

"I still don't want to-" Neku begins to decline when he is interrupted by the brown haired girl with the stuffed animal.

"Aw, come on Neku! Even though I haven't seen you play Tin Pin... _ever_, I think you'd do great! I've seen you work quite effectively with Pins before!" Shiki says, attempting to persuade her friend into playing. She never expected him to be the one to try Tin Pin before.

"Yeah, man. You could slam that kid down in one round, and crush that Red Kicker thing he's been shoutin' about!" Beat adds.

"Do you mean Red Kaiser, Beat?" Rhyme questions to correct her brother's error. He may have a strong spirit, but he doesn't have an exceptionally good memory or vocabulary... or high intelligence.

"Oh, right, tha's what I meant! So, Phones will ya?"

"Beat, why are you asking? For the weeks I've known you, you haven't mentioned Tin Pin _once_."

"Gotta get interested in somethin' new everyday. 'Sides, Rhyme an' me heard that kid shoutin' his mouth off about it before when we walked past Stride!"

"Shooter is so obsessed with Tin Pin...That- in a way- worries me," Shiki says, returning to her ramen while waiting for Neku's answer.

"Neku? Don't you want to feel that surge of pride when you defeat Shooter at Tin Pin again? I knew you were happy when that happened the first time," Joshua smirks. "Let's see how you do this time. If you lose, you don't _have _to play Tin Pin again, at least when we're not around. If you win, we'll let you do what you want afterwards. And you can decide where we should go next. Is it a deal?"

The orange haired boy eats some of his ramen before replying. After a moment, Neku answers, "Okay. Let's head out after we finish our ramen. We don't want this stuff to be cold now, do we?"

**T..W...E...W...Y..**

**Time: _1:56 PM_  
><strong>

"Ngh! How can you be so zetta strong?" Sho gets back on his feet after being thrown back by Merodi, who used telekinesis. She remembers that it was originally her power as a Player when she was in the Game. It was something she had 'enjoyed' having.

"If you have already forgotten, I am the Conductor of Shibuya. I have more power over you."

"If I could make it to that hectopascal called a Composer, I can drop the moon on your head!"

Sho charges at the Conductor, transforming into Leo Cantus as he rushes to her. Merodi teleports far behind him just as he is about to slam into her. She sighs and crosses her arms.

"Mister Minamimoto, I did not intend to battle you. As I stated, it was by chance that we met at this time. I would have immediately erased you if I came to eliminate your existence. However, I only want to speak with you."

"And why the should I listen to you? You're just a useless variable to me. I plan on replacing the Composer as the highest extreme in this plot (1)!"

"I know your objective, but I still do not wish to attack you. The outcome of that fight would end with me as the winner, no matter what you attempt to do. So, if you wish to attempt to complete your goal and avoid erasure, you will listen to what I am going to say."

Sho clenches his fist before returning to his original form. His appearance is the same since the Composer incapacitated him before the three-week long Game ended. He still has the Taboo Noise tattoos and ripped clothing, and his hands are still shaped like claws. He still has the power of a 'God', but he does not have enough power to eliminate the Composer or the Conductor.

"Alright. What the factor do you have to tell me, radian?"

"First of all, the Composer is currently... 'off duty' for the rest of the current Game right now. Any attempts you have at finding him will be fruitless," Merodi lies. He could be able to find the true Composer in the RG, but for the time being, Mister Minamimoto is in the Underground. The Composer could see Minamimoto, but due to the fact that Mister Kiryu has reduced powers- and now reduced strength, he won't be as safe as he was when Sho was incapacitated. The man has only been awake for three days, but he could find Kiryu easily with the amount of time he has. Sho should be able to fall for her lie, however. If he does not, then... Yoshiya will be in danger once again, and Composers are not allowed to interact with ex-Players or anyone not related to the Game. Merodi would help him, but because she is the 'replacement' _Composer _of Shibuya, she could not interact with the ex-Players or Yoshiya, even if she had done a bit of imprinting into a few of their minds earlier. Therefore, Yoshiya will be defenseless. Well, not completely. He does have power, but not enough to withstand all attacks by Minamimoto if he is in his Noise Form. She hopes that she can buy the Composer more time before Sho can find him. Neku may not be able to hide him for very long. The 'Grim Heaper' is bound to figure out where the Composer is before the end of the Week.

"Oh yeah? Was he afraid to try and take me out of the equation? Or was he told by the Higher Ups that he needs a little vacation?"

"... The Angels themselves told him to do so. However, it was also his own choice. Secondly, the Angels also have a message for you. They say that they are- oddly enough- giving you a chance to ascend. While I think that it is merrily to end the chaos you cause, it is your choice. And I believe it is better for you to ascend for another reason. The Angels added that should you refuse to enter the Higher Plane, they themselves will come to Shibuya and erase you, due to you being a threat to the city and to the Reapers."

The Conductor knows that Sho had become slightly nervous at hearing the threat of erasure. From what Yoshiya had told her, Sho had a 'small' fear of being erased. However, she could relate to that fear after all. In fact, there are quite a few Composers and Conductors who share this fear. (2) Similar to how death is something humans are scared of, erasure is something Composers are _at least a little _afraid of. The man in front of her looks at her with a serious face. After a moment, Minamimoto laughs, surprising Merodi.

"Ha ha ha! Those flying exponents should come catch me then, 'cause I'm not afraid of 'em!"

Merodi frowns slightly, replying, "Mr. Minamimoto, I _strongly _advise you to _just ascend _to the Higher Plane. Erasure will end you- for good. Do not rely on the Taboo sigils any longer, despite the power you have gained from being resurrected. The advantage you will have in the Higher Plane is that you will still be alive- or at least, in spirit. If you are erased, you are gone forever unless a Composer revives you."

"If you're so concerned about me, you're gonna revive me if I do get erased! Don't think for one millisecond that I never spotted you when you were just a Reaper yoctogram! You have a soft spot for the younger classmates of yours. So if your heart's ten times its original size, the result's going to bring me to life again!(3)" Sho smirks at the Conductor. "Gotta go, miss radian. I have a Composer to search for, and I don't give one percent if I get erased!" And with that, the man teleports, possibly to one of the rooftops. The female Conductor sighs. How would she possibly deal with Minamimoto _and _the Higher Ones? They would surely be furious or outraged by this outcome. If only this responsibility had been handed to Mr. Hanekoma instead. This would be one less objective she has to complete.

**T..W...E...W...Y..**

**Time: _2:04 PM_  
><strong>

"Hey, man! You still slammin'?" Shooter shouts when Neku and the rest of the group enter Stride. He runs up and stands in front of Neku, asking excitedly and _quite _loudly, "Wanna have a slam off? You an' me! One on one!"

Yammer, who had (surprisingly) just won a slam off with another Tin Pin player, hears his friend and hurries over with a determined look. "I want to be in this slam off too! I want to try out my new Pins!"

_More like Pin **mods**, considering how many times you've tried to cheat and beat me,_ Neku thinks in his head. _That kid's never going to learn, will he?_

"Alright! You against me and Yammer! One against two!"

"You can do this Neku!" Shiki says cheerfully, hoping that the first Tin Pin slam off she'll ever see is a good one. Eri gives the orange haired boy a thumbs up.

"Yeah Phones, you got this!" Rhyme smiles at her older sibling and laughs.

"Have fun, Neku," Joshua smirks. Neku, however, has a feeling that the boy is actually _encouraging _him this time... somehow.  
>Neku watches Shooter take out his Pins and then face palms. "Ugh, <em>great<em>. I don't have any other Pins." Well, that isn't entirely true. He only has _one _pin: the Player Pin in his pocket. He has never used that Pin since the Game, and he keeps it in his room for a good reason(4). Since Neku hasn't played Tin Pin with it, he doesn't know how well he could do in a slam off using just the Pin. "Do any of you guys have an extra Pin I could use? I didn't bring any others except one."

"Oh! You can use this one!" Eri reaches inside of the brown pouch strapped to her side and takes out the Lady Luck Pin, handing it to Neku. "I brought it with me since... well, I just thought it was something for good luck."

"Thanks, Eri. Any one else have a Pin?"

Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme unfortunately don't have any other Pins for him to use, but just as Neku is about to tell Shooter he's ready, Joshua holds his hand out. On his palm is a Player Pin. "This one should suffice."

Neku looks at him with a questionable look before taking the Pin, saying, "Thanks." He turns to Shooter and Yammer. "Alright, let's slam off."

The three boys each place one of their own Pins on the table. Neku puts Eri's Pin down on the field. It's the slightly more complicated playing field with a few red blocks along the sides. Neku remembers this table from the last time he had ever beaten them both in Tin Pin during the Game. That time, he received the Tin Pin Sunscorch(5) as a reward for winning.

"I want to say it!" Shiki says.

"Say what?" Eri asks her friend.

"I want to say 'Slam off!'"

"Didn't you say that you never went to a Tin Pin slam off before?"

"Well, yeah, but I've heard people shout that really loud when they start!"

Neku nods to her. "Okay, you can yell it."

"SLAM... _OFF_!"

He immediately turns back to the table and starts moving his Pin (6), making it knock against the other two currently being used. Shooter and Yammer work more like a tag team, aiming mainly for Neku's Pin rather than for his and each other's. Yammer's Pin uses a Sledgehammer, which Neku counterattacks using the Dive Bomber. Shooter's however uses a stinger right next to Yammer's, stunning the Pin and stopping its hammer. The Lady Luck Pin falls onto the spikes and is stunned, long enough for Shooter to charge slam it with full strength far from the table. The Pin uses the Helping Hand to get back onto the field twice, but it misses the surface by an inch. Shooter and Yammer high five while Neku hands the Lady Luck Pin back to Eri.

_I've lost my edge. I could beat these guys so easily weeks ago!_ Neku says to himself mentally. _I've gotta step it up. Hopefully the Player Pins are good ones. Who knows how these things are at Tin Pin... _He takes his Player Pin out and sees Joshua nod at him with a look that appears to be mischievous. _What's he thinking? Is that supposed to mean something?_

The Player Pin charges at the two instantly at a rather fast pace. _Wait... I didn't do that! _Neku thinks while watching it. The Pin, right in the middle of its charge, uses the Stinger and stuns Shooter's and Yammer's Pins. It charges again and knocks both of them off the table and high above their heads. Shooter and Yammer catch their Pins and quickly put their new ones onto the surface, even more determined to beat this tough Pin. The Pin surprises Neku again by Dive Bombing onto the other ones swiftly, stunning them once more before slamming them out of the field again. The two boys grab their Pins as they fly through the air, jumping up to catch them.

"That Pin of yours is real tough, man!" Shooter compliments with a grin. "That's gotta be one of the toughest Pins out there!"

"Yeah, if I had that as a mod, it would win anything!" Yammer adds, taking out another Pin.

"Uh, thanks," Neku says, playing with one of the three orange spikes of hair on the side of his head. That is something he does unconsciously now, usually whenever he's confused or frustrated. _This Pin's strange. It's using moves on its own, and I'm not controlling it at all! And it's winning all on its own. Hold on a sec.. _Neku picks up the Player Pin, inspecting it. The front looks just like a regular Player Pin, but when he checks the back of it, there's a definite difference. On the back is an feather. A pure white feather is surrounded by three turquoise sparkles. _This isn't my Pin. It's the one Joshua gave me! _Neku realizes. He looks up at the Composer, who's standing away from his other friends that are chatting with each other. Joshua, copying Eri, gives his ex-Proxy a thumbs up, moving a few stray strands of his hair out of his face, and continues to give Neku the same smirk.

The slam off continues, and the same events occur. The Player Pin is some way ends up stunning both Shooter and Yammer's Pins and knocking them off the table. Neku and, unknown to the others, Joshua are the only ones who know that the orange haired boy is not controlling the Pin at all. They are all too focused on the three Pins rather than on the players. After the Player Pin's entrance, the slam off seems to go by incredibly quickly. The last Pins belonging to Shooter and Yammer are slammed off the table after a minute.

"And the winner is Neku!" Shiki shouts happily, hugging Mr. Mew with a huge smile.  
>Shooter and Yammer pick up their Pins, putting them in their pockets. "Hey, that black Pin reminds me of those cool red ones that were the so popular weeks ago!" Yammer says, smiling about owning one of the red Pins.<p>

"You're right! This one looks like a clone of it! Where'd you get it?" Shooter asks, looking like he's ready to sprint to the store where the boy would get the Pin that managed to beat him and his friend.

"I, uh...-"

"-found it on the ground somewhere. It was just by luck. He thought it looked 'cool' so he picked it up. I was with him when he found it. We could have tried to find the Pin's real owner but how could we in a place as crowded as Shibuya? And considering the Pin's appearance, many would probably attempt to claim the Pin for themselves," Joshua tells the Tin-Pin-obsessed boy and his partner. "I can say he is quite lucky to ever find such a Pin as special as that."

"Sure. Okay, I guess I am pretty lucky," Neku agrees. _He can come up with lies really fast_, he thinks, tossing the Pin in his hand into the air to let it fall back into his palm.

"Man, you're probably the luckiest Tin Pin player ever to _find _that Pin!" Shooter looks at another table and sees a couple of teens taunting him, asking for a challenge. "Hey Yammer! We've got another slam off to go to over there!" The two boys run to the table, getting ready for another round of Tin Pin.

"Are we ready to go somewhere else?" Rhyme asks the group, all of them bringing their attention to her.

"Hmmmm. I know! Maybe we could go shopping!" Eri suggests with a bright smile.

"Oh, that's a good idea Eri! We should definitely go!" Shiki agrees enthusiastically. "We can buy more outfits and maybe more accessories so that we can find new designs for clothes! Maybe if we buy more items, we can come up with more clothing designs and make new clothes!"

"Can we, Beat?" Rhyme questions her sibling.

"Well, ya know, shopping ain't really my style an' all," Beat says slowly, "but uh, sure, I guess."

"I'm ready to do some shopping," Joshua says to them, "I'm always ready to go to any shop, even the ones at Shibu Department Store."

"Wait, you mean the Pegaso shops and the Herbal Remedies store? What they sell there is so expensive! You'd need over 1,000,000 Yen to buy every single product there!" Eri tells him, surprised by his statement.

"Hee hee, Mother and Father were quite rich. They sort of left me... _a lot _of money. So Neku, feel like doing some shopping? Everyone else is."

"I... I suppose I can. Not like my parents would say no to that, since they're out of town again," Neku agrees. His parents would be fine with him hanging out with friends, since before the Game he never had _any_. His mother would definitely agree to that. His father would tolerate it, as long as he didn't do anything like being alone with a girl- which means a date.

"Great! Let's go!" Shiki and Eri cheerfully say together. They walk quickly out of the store, talking to each other excitedly about what they could buy for the day. Beat and Neku know that they could spend the rest of the day shopping with the girls. Joshua knows they will, which is why he's laughing on the inside, even though he doesn't know why. Rhyme and Beat walk ahead to catch up to the two girls. Neku and the Composer are far behind them when they walk through the streets. After about five minutes, Neku realizes that Joshua hasn't really said a word to him since they left Ramen Don. The other boy continues to follow the others casually, but not throwing a glance at him. On the other hand, he seems to be searching for something because, while not looking at Neku, he turns his head slightly to look to his left and right occasionally. Besides walking, that's the only other thing Joshua's been doing for the walk so far. _Now would be a good time to ask him anything_, Neku tells himself mentally.

"So, what's going with you?" Neku asks the Composer.

"Hm?" Joshua snaps out of whatever he appears to be thinking of and gives his attention to Neku.

"I asked what's going on with you. You're acting weird. You're not being as annoying as you usually are and you aren't saying much. Well, you're not saying much to _me_."

"Oh? Neku, I thought you would enjoy my not talking to you. It would be a good thing for you, but you won't be able to hear my wonderful voice."

"In my opinion, it's strange how you've been acting. And there's another question I've got for you. Why are you not saying the word, 'friend'? You were fine using the word when we talked at Hachiko last week. From that week I've known you, you don't show signs that you're hurt. All you did was act snobby and irritating all the time, but you also helped me. I didn't get any signals that you had a problem. Now, it just seems like you're having an issue. Can't you just tell me what's up?"

Joshua puts his hands in his pockets, turning his gaze to the ground. "I don't think They would allow it."

"Who's 'They'?"

"It's so obvious Neku. I'm talking about the Angels. They had one of Them come down and speak to me. I can't tell you what They told me though."

"And why not? What do they have against that?"

"They don't want me to give information to people I shouldn't be speaking to. I'd be breaking the rules." _Which is what I'm currently doing right now just by telling you this_, Joshua adds in his head_. __They are doing all of this on purpose, attempting to raise my chances of leaving this world.__  
><em>"You can't even give me a hint?"

"Nope."

"... Let me guess. It's got something to do with erasure, right? I've never met an Angel be-"

"You already have, remember? You read Sanae's reports, I know. I am not completely sure how you received them due to a meeting I had to attend in the Higher Plane after the Game had ended, but I know you have read them."

"Okay. Yes, it's true. I did read the 'secret' reports. I never thought Mr. H was an Angel, and that the reason for you keeping Shibuya alive was because of-"

"Neku! Joshua! Come on!" The two boys look up and see Shiki waving over at them, Eri running into Shibu Department Store with Beat and Rhyme following behind her. Shiki turns around and runs inside as well to find her pink haired friend.

They walk together up to the large store's entrance, Neku immediately receiving a headache just before stepping into the store. He grips both sides of his head, clutching his spiky, orange hair. _Not again!_ Neku whines mentally. _It's bad enough that my head hurt **a lot **on Saturday! Why does it hurt now?_ Joshua stands there watching him, not reacting at all besides raising an eyebrow and asking, "Something wrong? You seem to be in a lot of pain."

"Yeah, I'm in pain!" Neku shouts at him, squeezing his eyes shut and tightening his grip on his head when more pain arrived. "What does it look like? I don't even know why I'm having this headache at all!"

Joshua turns his head slightly so that his gaze is aimed on the spot right in front of the orange haired boy. He glares, sending a message telepathically. _Why are you doing this? Can you not see that it is hurting the boy right now? I'm trying to keep things from getting out of hand and your presence here is not helping. It is not helping **me**. _He sees the girl in front of Neku, giving him an expressionless look._  
><em>_I am giving Sakuraba something. Do not worry, it is nothing incredibly dangerous to the boy's mind. In fact, it will help him. Possibly it will do you good as well, if you allow it to_, the other person replies. Merodi moves some spikes of hair covering a bit of Neku's face so that she can place her hand on his forehead. She rubs his forehead gently before turning back to Shibuya's true Composer. The Conductor adds to her reply, _You do not have to mind Sho Minamimoto for some time. I managed to speak to the man, and he is now going to be pursued by one of the Angels. This should give you more time to avoid him, and spend more time with these friends of yours. _Joshua visibly flinches at the word, and Merodi moves forward to place a hand on the boy's shoulder."Joshu- Composer, there is no reason for you to be startled by the term 'friend'. Unless, of course, you delved into some of Mr. Sakuraba's memories. His original view of having no close connections with others was correct. If you had not remembered, I had been deeply hurt by the death of Saigo... Kiryu, I do not think you should get far too attached to these friends of his. From what I had observed so far, they, in spite of their efforts to hide it, are still not far too trusting of you due to your actions in that Game. Even Ms. Misaki is still cautious of being around you, despite her thought of possibly comforting you."

The Composer of Shibuya studies the Conductor, the two of them looking each other in the eyes for about 10 seconds. Finally, Joshua shrugs Merodi's hand off of him, giving another telepathic message. _I don't need comfort, Merodi. I only need you to stop interfering with my interactions with Neku and... those four people. You must stop following us. I have seen you around very few times, but I do not think it is safe for you to continue to do so. It would be best if you remained in the Room of Reckoning and watch over Shibuya from there.  
><em>

Merodi sighs, knowing that he will not see why she is truly pursuing him and Neku. She is truly attempting to help them _both_, since it will be beneficial to them. It would certainly do the Composer himself some good, and could bring him a feeling of happiness- if he were able to feel that emotion at all. Knowing that Neku and all of the people around them would not hear her or Kiryu, Merodi simply tells him, "Composer, I am trying to assist you in helping Shibuya. However, I also strive to help you and Mr. Sakuraba, who appears to be losing his pain now. I shall have to speak to you some time later. Let us hope that Minamimoto does not find you." She nods to him and turns, walking in the direction of Scramble Crossing, heading for the Shibuya River.

Neku's grip had been slowly loosening during the Composer and Conductor's conversation, and when Merodi had left, Neku's pain was gone. He rubs his forehead and feels relieved. He really hopes he doesn't get another headache this week. He looks at Joshua and notices that he is frowning, staring at the ground. Mimicking how he would snap Neku out of his 'thinking' trances, Neku waves his hand in front of Joshua. "Shibuya to Joshua Kiryu." Neku actually chuckles a bit when Joshua jumps slightly. "Why are you just standing there? Let's head inside."

"Alright. I suppose I will need many more 10,000 Yen Pins, considering how Ms. Shiki and Eri are fawning over two Cocktail Queen dresses (7).

* * *

><p><em><strong>Time<strong>:_ 1:04 PM

_**Game**: 2nd Week  
><em>

_**Day**: 2_**  
><strong>

"Come on, Josh!" Neku was irritated by the fact that his partner was not focused on the mission. They were currently standing in front of Shibu Department Store, and Joshua had stopped following him to look into a window displaying one of the new arrivals to the Pegaso brand shops. "Hurry up! We've gotta finish the mission before we run out of time!"

"We have plenty of time Neku. I'm just looking at this item that happens to catch my eye," Joshua replied, "not like you would have any taste in high-quality clothes at all, considering how you dress."

"You've been 'looking' for five minutes! Just get your ass moving already, will you?" his dear partner shouted to him, pinching the tip of an orange hair spike. _How slow can this brat possibly be? We don't have to run that far! _Neku complained in his head.

Joshua sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "Since you want to use up your energy so much, let's head off then." The boy smirked at Neku, who muttered something that sounded like "slow as hell" before turning around and running to Cadoi City. Yoshiya trailed behind- _far _behind. Sweating must be Neku's thing, but it isn't Joshua's.

Neku ran through the crowd into Cadoi City, stopped in front of a line of people that entered the building leading to the stores, and started to head for Molco. When he was at the 'border' between Cadoi City and Molco, he looked to his left and saw his ash blonde partner walking casually up to him. Neku frowned and said, "You can walk faster than _that_! Run so that we can get there! _Hurry the hell up!_"

"Neku, I don't do the whole sweating thing. You should relax. As I said, we've still got time. No need to rush."

"_Yes_, there _is_! If we don't finish the mission, we'll be-!"

Joshua gasped and pulled Neku back by the collar, the orange haired boy falling to the ground. Using the baggy collar again, Joshua yanked the boy to his feet and stood beside him, appearing to be ready for a fight. Neku readjusted his headphones and asked, "What the hell?"

"Noise, Neku," was his partner's simple answer. The spot Neku had been standing in was now occupied by a black and white Boomer Noise, another one behind it. They were slightly larger than the regular Boomer Neku had encountered already. These Noise, however, appeared to be stronger, and while Neku didn't feel that, Joshua could. He just didn't tell his partner. "I doubt that we'll be able to escape this fight. These Noise seem to be awfully swift."

"Then that means that we'll have to erase these things!" Neku stood his ground, taking on his own battle pose. He was ready to take these Boomer. "Bring it!"

* * *

><p><strong>WildKat<strong>

**Time Period: _Present_  
><strong>

**Time: _3:56 PM_  
><strong>

"Mr. Hanekoma?" Merodi calls, her voice echoing strangely throughout the cafe. "I must speak to you. It is important." She walks further into the large room and checks her surroundings. She notices a newspaper on the long counter, where Sanae would usually greet her had he been in the cafe right now. _Odd. The Producer would never read a paper for news. He would know about the events in the city by now, if he wanted to_, Merodi thinks. The Conductor walks closer and sees that there is a certain page bookmarked, a large portion of the corner folded. Merodi picks up the paper, flips to the page, and reads the title of the article. The title immediately tells her where Sanae is.

**15 year old boy found dead in tiny ally near Miyashita Park  
><strong>

The Conductor closes the newspaper and puts it back on the counter. "Damn you, Minamimoto." She knows that the man is the reason for this death. Yoshiya should know about this. He should. He's the real Composer. Unless he is preoccupied with his dear Proxy (well, _ex_- Proxy) he will not be notified of this event or receive the information in his mind, mainly because he is not currently doing his own job. Merodi would have been informed but she may have not been informed. _Hm. There must be an explanation for that. Receiving details on the current events or news in Shibuya mentally every second was a required power for a Composer. I have the position for now, at least temporarily. I should have that power._ "I wonder..."

**_BOOM!_**

**_Time: 4:00  
><em>**

A powerful rumble shakes the city, and the WildKat itself moves with the vibrations. Merodi runs outside of the cafe and turns her attention to the sky. The clouds are no longer wispy and snow white. They are now huge gray clumps of cotton like a blanket covering Shibuya. Lightning flashes, and thunder roars loudly. The Conductor looks around her and sees the people in the area of Cat Street scurrying away, trying to get to their homes as quickly as they could for safety. "This is absolutely unnatural. This is the Higher Ups' doing (8)," Merodi says to herself, "The Shibuya ones must be in a foul mood. I cannot imagine-" And then realization hit her. "Sanae!" Mr. Hanekoma is in the Higher Plane, speaking to the Angels of... something. Whatever the topic is, or whatever they are discussing, must be making Them furious." Another person- or group of people- pop into her mind. _Daisukenojo, Rhyme, Shiki, Yoshiya... Neku. I must make sure they are safe! _Even if Yoshiya still has as limited amount of his power with him, he still won't be able to protect himself from this storm. It may seem like a rather idiotic reason for him to be unable to reach safety, but the Conductor wants to ensure that he and his... acquaintances were safe. She knows that he does not want to refer to them as '_friends_' at the moment, so she must settle for naming them something else.

* * *

><p><strong>Cadoi City front<br>**

**Time: _4:04 PM_**

"Let's head to my house! It's the closest house from here!" Neku had shouted to his friends a few minutes ago. They are now running through the streets, to Neko Street. There are no alleys or spaces in between the buildings in most of Shibuya, and the stores at this point would be closed and locked tight for safety. They could have run back to Shibu, but there had been so many people scrambling and bumping into them that they lost time. The stores had already closed, as well as Towa Records.

This is quite a storm. Shibuya has never had a storm like this. There were light drizzles during the year, but there was mostly sunshine or partly cloudy days. A thunderstorm like this, however, is something no one ever expects to see in this city. Unless you're the Composer that is. At the moment, Joshua isn't, and he never thought he'd see a storm this bit. Of course he knows that this weather has been made by the Higher Ups. Their mood can also influence a city's weather patterns. And it's clear that They're not in a good mood. It disappoints him that the people in shops are looking for their own safety, not allowing any other citizens inside to keep any dangers out. The people themselves that did not own a shop anywhere headed for their own homes, not helping each other out. Many of them were pushing and shoving others out of the way to reach their safe havens. Not _everything _has changed in Shibuya. This should not be on Joshua's mind right now though. They _are _in the middle of running through the storm to Neku's home. If he had been the Composer right now, Joshua would have left the group and returned to the Room of Reckoning. He would never leave his _dear _ex-Proxy to the mercy of the storm, would he? ... Before, he could have. Now, he wasn't so sure. And that girl, Shiki. She had actually said something meaningful to him, rather than something that had a hidden resentment behind the words. Those other three, he was starting to reconsider his opinion on them as well.

The group of teens pass Towa Records. A flash of light stops them for a mere second, and they run again. Rhyme is shaking as they get closer to the corner leading to Neko Street and grabs Beat's arm. She's frightened by the storm and asks, "Beat, can we all please hold hands? I don't want any of us to get lost or hurt without anyone knowing! I'm afraid something will happen! Please!"

Beat looks at his younger sibling and nods, wrapping the arm she is holding onto around her shoulders. He holds her close protectively and shouts to Neku, "Phones! Rhyme wants us all to hold hands!"  
>"Why?"<p>

"Man, she's afraid! She wants us 'ta be safe! C'mon!"

Eri is the first to obey, taking Beat's free hand into hers. She holds her other hand out to Shiki, who takes it as well. The girl is still gripping Mr. Mew tightly, and she sees Joshua extend his own hand to her, although hesitantly. When the Composer sees that she can't grab it, he hooks his arm over hers. Neku slows down and grabs Joshua's other hand. He quickly glances at his other friends before running as fast as he can, dragging the other with him.

The teens manage to reach Neko Street in a matter of seconds. They race down to Neku's home, and, after Neku unlocks the front door, they rush into the living room. As Neku locks the door again and flips the lights to the room on, Beat, Rhyme, and Eri sit on one sofa, all three breathing heavily. Shiki, who is sitting on the other couch with Joshua, is doing the same as well. The Composer merrily watches the other teens regain their breath. Another perk for the Composer: you can't feel incredibly tired from exerting so much energy.

The orange haired boy leans against the wall next to the TV. He feels tired from the running they all did in the middle of the thunderstorm. _That __storm came out of nowhere. How could it arrive and start that fast? _Neku thinks, looking at the window behind the sofa the Bito siblings are sitting on. _It started when we stepped outside of Shibu. That can't be natural- not in Shibuya at least. _He turns his attention to the Composer on the couch, sitting next to the brown haired girl holding the black cat toy. _He should know. He has to, since he knows so much about the city and the 'Higher Ups'._ Just as Neku is about to push himself off the wall to speak to Joshua, he stops and closes his eyes against his will.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Time<strong>:_ 4:16 PM

_**Game**: 2nd Week  
><em>

_**Day**: 2_**  
><strong>

"And in the red corner, the top Tin Pin Slammer and a Slammurai of Shibuya, Shuto Daaaaaaaan!" the Announcer of the event shouts.

_Wha-! I'm going against him? _Neku realized. _Well, I guess I'm gonna have to make a big effort. I can't afford to lose this!__  
><em>"Hey! I can't believe you made it this far, with you being a beginner and all!" Shooter said to Neku with a grin. "Sorry man, but I can't let you win this. 'Cause I'm gonna win! Especially with my trusty Red Kaiser!"

The match began, and despite how much effort Neku put into his Tin Pin skills to win, it all ended with Shooter being the winner. In fact, the match was quick- faster than Neku thought, as if it was just a flash that ended the whole game. "And the winner is... Shuto Dan! Our top seed moves onto the finals!" the announcer said to the crowd.

"Sorry about that, but you were almost got the upperhand! i had to get serious! You still did great for a first-timer though!" When Shooter walked away, Neku began to panic.

_There is no next time! _Neku responded to the boy mentally when he shouted "There's always next time!" over his shoulder. _I'm too late! We're going to be erased! Now that I've lost, there's no way we can clear the mission! I'm so sorry Shiki. I've failed!__  
><em>"Neku, what in the world is the problem?" Joshua asked innocently, as if he couldn't see the turmoil Neku was going through at the moment. "It's not a surprise that you lost, but you wouldn't possibly be that affected by losing to a 'Slammurai' like Shooter, would you? Nothing you can do now except sit back and watch the rest of this day go on."

"Don't you get it? We're gonna be erased now since there isn't any other way for us to finish the mission today! I've just lost our chances of ever coming back to life, and I've cost Shiki her life as well!"

"Oh, will you relax? No need to be so panicked right now."

"_Relax?_" Neku replied angrily. "How can you not be panicked by this? _We are going to be erased! _We'll be gone _for good_! Why wouldn't-"

"Looks like the top seed of the Tin Pin pile is having trouble!"

"Huh?" Neku and Joshua turned their attention to the final slam-off. The fifth-grader's opponent and the rest of the crowd watched Shooter, waiting for his pin to eject to come out to start the match.

"What? My Pin, it won't eject! No, Red Kaiser!"

"It seems that a malfunction has cost the top seed the match! The winner is the dark horse slammer, Sota Honjo!"

Neku felt a tingling sensation in his hand, where the timer was. He took a look at his palm as gasped. "The timer's gone! We cleared the mission? But how?"

"Clearly, if the mission was completed when Shooter's opponent, Sota Honjo, had won, then Sota is indeed a Player," Joshua answered. The two looked over at the winner of the slam off.

"So, what happened to our timers?" a girl asked the teen.

"We did it, Nao! We finished today's mission!" Sota said happily. The two proceeded to exit the building.

"Didn't you already know, Neku? _Any _Player can complete the mission for the day. No matter who it is, the mission is finished if a Player does the job," the ash blonde boy told his partner.

"Then... we're safe." _Thank God, _Neku thought, very relieved.

**_Molco_**

After Sota and Nao left the area and Shooter had started to head for Stride, Joshua spoke up. "SO Neku, the lesson for today is: let other Players take care of missions. You shouldn't get so worked up over it. Anyone can do the mission for the day. We can just relax and do what we want."

"What the hell do you mean 'just relax? If that fifth grader's Tin Pin toy hadn't broke, we wouldn't even be having this conversation! We'd be erased if it hadn't been for that guy, Sota!" Neku angrily replied.

"Heh heh heh, did you honestly think that incident was an accident? I can give a little more help than you think."

"What are you talking about?"

"I swapped Shooter's Pins with a few 'special' Pins of mine. However, there were tiny little changes I made on them."

_I guess there are a few perks to having this guy as a partner, _Neku thought. "That... was a crazy stunt you just pulled."

"_You _specifically didn't win. What needed to happen was for Shooter to lose. I could have told you before, but events are more entertaining with a little bit of surprise and twists. Oh, and your welcome, Mr. Escort."

"Shut up! If that kid didn't have that 'Red Kaiser' crap, I could've won!"

"Ah, you said you _could have _won. You didn't say you _would have_," Joshua pointed out, smirking.

Neku clenched his fist. _He's still a prissy ass though. _"If you weren't my partner, I would've punched you so hard in the face that you'd be unconscious for days!"

* * *

><p><strong>4:06<strong>

"Um, Neku?" a voice whispers.

Neku slowly opens his eyes. He had that flashback... and he's still leaning against this wall? He hadn't been unconscious?

"Neku, are you okay?" the same voice asks him quietly. He recognizes it, although he hasn't lifted his head up to see the source of it. Then, something hits his head, and it falls to his feet. It's Mr. Mew. Neku looks up and rubs his eyes. Huh, while he was having that flashback, everyone had fallen asleep. Well, except Shiki. A sleeping Joshua is leaning against her, his head against hers. His left leg is off the sofa, foot planted on the floor, while his right leg is still on the furniture, foot resting on top of the arm rest. The Composer seems a lot more peaceful when he is asleep.

_Wait_, the _Composer _is asleep? Neku picks up the black cat toy and walks to the two sofas. On the other sofa, Beat and Rhyme are sleeping, Beat's arms wrapped around her protectively, but gently. Neku smiles a little at the sight before handing the toy back to Shiki.

"Thanks," Shiki says to him. She tenses immediately when Joshua mumbles in his sleep. "After Beat and Rhyme fell asleep, he did." _After_ _glancing at you a couple of times... and talking to me while you were probably sleeping against that wall, _the brown haired girl adds in her head.

"He's really asleep..." Neku sits on the leftover space on the couch next to her. The two of them take a look at the Composer, who seems so peaceful when he's unconscious. They look at each other and smile. "Hey, I wanted to ask you... Are you okay with Josh being here in the RG with us?"

Shiki is genuinely surprised by the question. "Me? Of- of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you and Beat saw this prissy guy here shoot me and 'kill' me on the last day of the Game. And when you guys saw him yesterday, you weren't too friendly to him. I thought you and him were still-"

"Neku... I'm fine. Don't worry! I'm getting along with him - I think."

"What do you mean 'you think'?"

"See, while you were dozing off and fell asleep against that wall and after Beat and Rhyme started sleeping, me and him had a talk." Shiki fidgets a bit, feeling slightly nervous. _I can't tell him__, can I? ... I know I should- but **I can't**!_ she debates mentally. _He said I can't..._

"About what?"

_Just... a tiny, **tiny** hint Shiki! That is **it**! _she decides. "About being Composer. He said he's acting... different than he usually would."

"Really? How? Well, besides how he doesn't piss me off as much as he used to." Neku waits for her to answer, but Shiki looks at the sleeping Composer instead of returning the orange haired boy's gaze. The boy got the message. "You can't tell me. He told you that you can't."

"It isn't that he doesn't trust you, Neku... It's just that... I don't know. Maybe he's reaching out to me or something?" Shiki wonders. Why would the person who has the power to end Shibuya possibly give her more insight on himself? Why didn't he just tell Neku all of these details? After all, he is- or was- the guy's proxy. "I don't know what reason he would even have for telling _me _this stuff... Neku?" When the girl turned her head to see the boy, she notices that he is giving his attention to the Composer, who sighs in his sleep. "Did you hear-" She stops immediately when Joshua starts moving. She's relieved when she realizes that he's still asleep, but he moves himself closer to her.

Neku chuckles quietly with a small smile. "Guess he thinks you're a pillow."

"Heh heh, I guess so." Shiki giggles, patting the ash blonde boy on the head lightly. She sees Neku yawn and says, "You should get some sleep Neku."

"Shiki... it's only _4:30_. It's still early."

"True. But we can't go outside now because of the huge storm! It's still raging on. When you were unconscious the whole time, it-" The brown haired girl interrupts herself with a yawn.

"Now who's tired?"

"Oh fine, I am! Hmmm. You know, maybe we should both get some rest. I mean, we're both tired, just like all three of these guys!" She gestures to the three sleeping teens.

"There are things we can do in here." Again, the orange haired boy yawns. His eyes droop as he does so, but he snaps them open and shakes his head, trying to get rid of some of his drowsiness. He turns his head to see Shiki with a playful smirk on her face. Giving in, he replies, "Okay, fine. Let's take a nap or something." He rests his head against the arm rest of the sofa and, after taking his shoes off and leaving his socks on (Shiki notes gratefully), curls into a ball. Surprisingly, he is quite comfortable. Shiki, who still has the Composer leaning against her, sinks a little lower on the sofa and moves the boy's head so that it is resting in her lap instead. When they are both finally in their sleeping positions, Neku says, "'Night Shiki."

"Goodnight Neku."

The two do their best to fall asleep, and Neku eventually succeeds. By that time, it's 5:18 PM. Shiki, however stays up. _Heh heh, maybe it is still early for me to sleep. _She looks at the sleeping siblings on the other couch and then to Neku. He's quiet as ever, and she knows the boy is sleeping from his even breathing.

She looks down at Joshua, peacefully napping on her lap. She smiles a little, rubbing the side of his head comfortingly. For a split moment, she swears that he smiled a tiny bit- the corners of his mouth curling up a fraction after the contact.

_**Sleep**_

Shiki's eyes widen and she looks around the room frantically. There isn't anyone else in here besides them. _Imprinting... Joshua said Neku was imprinted in here so... It has to be a Player! _Before she can continue her thoughts, her eyes feel heavy. They slowly begin to close, and she leans her head back against the sofa. Soon, the girl holding Mr. Mew at her side is asleep, along with the rest of the occupants in the room.

* * *

><p><strong>"<em>Hey, feel like meeting up with us today<em>?"  
><strong>

**"No."  
><strong>

**"C'mon! You said that the last time we asked you! Can't you just hang out with us for one day?"  
><strong>

**"Nope."  
><strong>

**"School's going to end though, and considering your reputation, you won't have many people to hang out with during vacation."  
><strong>

**"My answer remains the same."  
><strong>

**"_Listen. Just because you have this... ability does not mean that you are incapable of having friends. You don't need to be a loner now that we're with you. Life's more enjoyable with other people._"  
><strong>

**"..."  
><strong>

**"We're gonna hang out with you all the time if you let us! PROMISE!"  
><strong>

**"..."  
><strong>

**"_I never thought I would say this but... please. We've been in your shoes before. We can cope with this ability of yours, we know we can._"  
><strong>

**"... Fine... Heh heh, you're faces are priceless."  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Word Count without Author's Notes: 9,072 Words<br>**

**Holy Composers I am finally FINISHED!  
><strong>

**I have wanted to update for so long! I didn't have a lot of time though, even though it's June now! I have my final exam for history tomorrow... and yet we all don't have a clue as to what we should study since our history teacher took our textbooks already -_-. Yeah, and the teacher never told us what to study. GREAT TEACHER, I know.  
><strong>

**SO, as you all can see, this chapter was... exceedingly long. Longer than the last one. If you look at my previous stories, you'll notice that the amount of words in chapters will gradually increase as the story goes on (a good example: my glee story). I don't know why I do that, so sorry if the next chapters after this are a LOT longer.  
><strong>

**I only had two memories in this one... -_-. Man, I feel like I'm getting off track with this story. I hate that. Gotta stay on topic. So here are Author's Notes:  
><strong>

**(1)~ So... sorry about the horrible way I'm writing Sho's dialogue. The way he talks is kind of hard to write for me.  
><strong>

**(2)~ In the story, 'a few' Composers and Conductors have this fear as well. Joshua isn't one of them, but Merodi is- obviously, after seeing Saigo erased when she had been a Player. Sho is neither a Composer or Conductor. However, after Joshua's attack against him on Week 3 Day 7 that incapacitated him, Sho has developed a fear of losing his existence. I feel like this is out of character for him though...  
><strong>

**(3)~ Basically, the Higher Ups intend on Sho ascending in order to keep him from making any other trouble in Shibuya. If he refuses, one of the Shibuya Angels will go to the city to personally erase him. The End.  
><strong>

**(4)~ The reason for Neku keeping the original Player Pin will be revealed in the next day, Tuesday... I just forgot that tomorrow in OUR RG is going to be Monday... Weird.  
><strong>

**(5)~ In the game, you will actually receive Tin Pin Sunscorch at Stride on Week 2 Day 6.  
><strong>

**(6)~ I don't know how exactly people control the Pins in Tin Pin Slammer. How they move the Pins isn't explained, so...  
><strong>

**(7)~ The Cocktail dresses in game are over 100,000 Yen, making them 'expensive' items at first. Yes, Joshua actually buys a dress for both Shiki and Eri. Nice guy right?  
><strong>

**(8)~ Depending on the Higher Ups' residing in Shibuya (see the AN below this), their mood _can _affect the weather. Since they can change the weather to their liking, which is an ability the Composer and Producer of the city _do not _have, the Higher Ups can change the current weather. Despite this, they do not have real emotions, and the emotions that they could experience based on their mood are what determines the weather. For instance, in this chapter, the Shibuya Higher Ups could have felt anger. However, since they can't feel that specific emotion, the emotion itself changes the weather. So, that anger changed into the thunderstorm above Shibuya. I hope this whole paragraph made sense...  
><strong>

**+~There are specific Angels residing in every city. There are a large amount dispatched in each city, and there is in fact a group _above _them in power. I'll describe more on that later on. (Joshua: Actually, I will. Heh heh heh...)  
><strong>

**Aaaand... that's it... OH, the ending... I think you can figure out who was _one of the three _in that last conversation. Mainly from that last line, since it was said in the Game...**

**I feel that I kind of rushed the end of this chapter however. I really wanted to update today though, since I had tried to yesterday. This turned out a lot longer than I intended. So I hope that at some point I can update this week. If not... let's all hope I will at all this month.  
><strong>

**I feel that I wrote a bit of Shiki/Joshua... That part where Shiki 'rubs his head comfortingly'... where or why I wrote that is unknown. Maybe I'm starting to like the pairing in this story? ... Joshiki hee hee hee, ;) . . . 0.0  
><strong>

**Shiki: ...Erm...  
><strong>

**Joshua: ... Hee hee hee.  
><strong>

**~You've~  
><strong>


	7. Good News, Bad News Part 1

**The World Ends with You Chapter 6**

**Joshua: And now, our artistic writer has returned from a far too long vacation.  
><strong>

**Me: It was not a vacation! I have so much work to do for school, and I have added choir to my schedule. I'm lucky I didn't join Jazz band, or I would have even less time. And I had to go to Nationals and State Championships for Marching Band.  
><strong>

**In TWEWY (which I have not played for a few months) I have already mastered all of the pins and am working on boosting ESPR Points and Rank. In the fanfic, I am compensating for the really long wait by giving a longer chapter. I don't know if this is a good one, but I tried my best since I haven't written for it since August before going to Niagara Falls. By that point I had 9,208 words. I decided that I should finish this up now so I can get started on the next, whenever that chapter will be posted.  
><strong>

**So, the chapter... I had writer's block for the first time for this story. Hey, a record for how long it takes me to get writer's block! I hope I'm not making the characters OOC now though, because I've noticed how I've done that in my other stories that I've put on Hiatus. I've gotta hope -_-  
><strong>

**Let's see what else... OH YES, the ones I need to thank are:  
><strong>

**VegaTheGamer00 for adding this story to their Favorites List!  
><strong>

**Ruby-Blade-Princess for adding the story to their Story Alert list and to their Favorite Stories List!**

**Ismyneli-SL for **adding the story to their Story Alert list and to their Favorite Stories List!****

**Chris0602 and CulinaryChef for adding the story to their Favorite Stories lists!  
><strong>

** satheroth335 for adding the story to their Story Alerts list!  
><strong>

**BookThief101 for their review! I'm happy getting your reviews! They motivate me to write! :))  
><strong>

**Nekoshiro for their (2) reviews! Ha ha, I'm glad your enjoying the story! :))  
><strong>

**RistarFruit for adding the story to their Story Alert List and adding me to their Author Alert List!  
><strong>

**I hope I didn't miss anyone!  
><strong>

**Also, thanks to all the readers so far who have waited for this! It makes me glad there are people who are actually reading this.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: In no way do I own TWEWY. I would love to though. Maybe in another universe I do. Maybe another person does. Maybe YOU do. Who knows, right?**

**Rhyme: Read and Review!^_^  
><strong>

**Neku: When'd you get into the Author's Notes?  
><strong>

**Rhyme: Just now! Shiki was allowed in, so I'm allowed now too! :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Tuesday<br>**

**Good news, Bad news  
><strong>

**Time:** 7:03 AM

Neku blinks his eyes a couple of times, rubbing them with his hand as he sits up. When his vision becomes clear, he sees Beat still asleep on the other sofa. Beat's arm is at his side, where Rhyme had been last night. There's now an empty space where the girl had been. Eri is also missing from the room. Neku looks to his left only sees Joshua laying on the sofa next to him. Shiki is gone as well.

_Well, they obviously still in the house. But where? _the orange haired boy thinks. _They wouldn't leave the house, Rhyme especially. She must've been terrified while we were running through that huge storm yesterday. _He turns his attention to the window, noticing the storm still raging. Luckily, the lightning seems to have stopped for now. The rain appears to have started pouring down on Shibuya even harder overnight. Whatever reason this storm has lasted so long is a wonder. Neku snaps his head to the kitchen when he hears sounds of metal dropping. He stands immediately, momentarily glancing at the Composer as he groans in his sleep before heading for the source of the noise.

"Oh! I'm so clumsy!" Shiki whines.

"No you're not Shiki," Rhyme tells her, "You only tripped and dropped the forks. I've tripped on my own feet before!"

"Yeah! So have I! It happens to everyone!" Eri agrees.

Neku slowly enters the kitchen and sees the three girls kneeling in front of the fridge, picking up the silverware. Shiki looks up and flushes in embarrassment. "Oh, Neku! I'm sorry, I tripped on the way to the table and-"

"It's okay," Neku reassures her with a smile, "I've done that in the past, and so has my mom when she was here." He crouches down and picks up the last fork on the ground, handing it to her. "By the way, what were you guys doing in here?"

Eri replies, "Well, we were thinking that maybe, since we can't go outside now, that we could make breakfast for you guys! A good one, as in pancakes!"

"Hee hee, I helped them make the pancakes over there." Rhyme points to the table, where a large plate of the sweet treat lay in the center. "Beat and I are home alone most of the time because of our parents constantly working, whether they are working somewhere else or taking work home. I'm the one who would make breakfast in the morning. We had enough ingredients here to make pancakes!"

"I hope that was okay for us to do," Shiki says, slowly looking over at Neku.

"Of course it's okay. I haven't had pancakes in a while- in here for breakfast at least. My mom usually just gave me cereal, but not pancakes. Sometimes I would just buy them at WildKat."

Eri smiles brightly, getting an idea in her head at that last word. "You guys feel like going to WildKat after breakfast? Maybe we could see Mr. Hanekoma and visit! You know, once this storm blows over and all." While Shiki appears unsure of the idea, no one else notices. Neku and Rhyme agree. Shiki does the same, only hesitantly. "Great! That's one thing we can do after the weather calms down!"

Shiki, wanting to change the subject, says, "Shouldn't we wash these forks? They were on the ground after all, thanks to me, and I'm kind of used to cleaning anything I drop. It's a habit."

"Sure, if that's what you wanna do, Shiki," Neku replies. "I can help you guys clean them. It's not a bother for me. I've had to help mom before, cleaning the house and all when dad wasn't home and she had a day off. Mom's kind of a 'neat freak', so I've gotten used to her." _-pestering me about keeping my room tidy, _he adds in his mind.

"Okay, let's get to washing these off!" Shiki tells them with a laugh, making her way to the sink.

"Should I wake Beat and Joshua up?" Rhyme asks them, then adding, "Beat's a heavy sleeper, so it will take a while to wake him up."

"Sure Rhyme! While you do that, I'll wash the forks you're holding," Eri says to the younger Bito sibling. When the girl is about to reply that she'll wash them herself, Eri reassures her. "It's okay! Just go ahead and wake up your snoozing brother!"

Rhyme nods and walks into the living room. When she is in front of her brother, she grabs his shoulders and shakes him. "Beat, it's time to wake up." Beat, still asleep, responds with a snore. "Well, I did say he's a heavy sleeper," the blonde girl reminds herself. "C'mon Beat." She shakes him a bit less gently. Since her older sibling is still not up, she sighs and resorts to just saying what would most likely wake him up. "There's curry ramen."

Beat instantly sits up at hearing his favorite food, causing Rhyme to jump back in surprise. "Where?" He notices there isn't ramen around at all and looks at Rhyme. "There ain't any curry ramen here, Rhyme!"

His sister giggles and says, "I had to wake you up Beat. Eri, Shiki, and I made breakfast for you guys! We made pancakes."

"Really? Sweeeet! Your pancakes are worth wakin' up for!" Beat grins and heads for the kitchen. He is a fan of his little sister's cooking, especially her pancakes. Her food may level with his love for curry ramen- and that's saying something considering his love for the spicy ramen.

"Ngh..." Rhyme turns to the other sofa, seeing Joshua struggle a bit in his sleep. He seems to be frowning, and he groans again, although slightly more quietly. "Joshua?" She walks over to his sleeping form and is about to wake the boy up when a hand touches her shoulder.

"Hey Rhyme?" She looks over her shoulder. It's Neku. "We're starting to eat breakfast. You might wanna get in the kitchen and take some pancakes before Beat eats the whole plate." He smiles as he says this. When Beat walked in, he grabbed a plate and fork and put a whole stack of what? Four or five pancakes? Neku thinks that the hungry Bito probably put more on his plate by now.

"Okay!" She turns to the ash blonde boy on the couch, about to attempt to wake him.

"I'll get him for you. You just get some food before your brother eats it all." Rhyme laughs and walks to the kitchen, leaving Neku and the Composer alone in the living room.

The orange haired boy takes a close look at Joshua. His forehead is slightly creased, and his eyes are shut tight. Many strands of hair are on his face. Neku looks at his left hand and sees that it's clutching the side of the couch firmly. His right is forming a fist. Joshua groans, and his hold on the couch tightens.

_Whatever he's dreaming of must be pretty bad... but he shouldn__'t even **be **asleep right now. Composers can't sleep, or at least that's what Mr. Hanekoma told me, _Neku reminds himself. _Then again, why is he sleeping at all? What is he dreaming about? And if he can't feel... Well, what he looks like now is definitely a sign that he can feel._ He moves the strands of hair out of the way and puts his hand on Joshua's forehead. _His forehead's warm... _Neku places his hand on the other boy's arm. _Huh... He's warm there too. Could he be sick? . . . No, he can't. We should **all **be sick, considering how we ran through a thunderstorm yesterday. So, if we're not sick, why is he the only one who is?_

Joshua sits up instantly, panting. He looks at his clenched fist and is _actually _surprised. _I... physically reacted to a dream... More of a nightmare truthfully... _He says mentally. He feels something holding his arm and looks up to see Neku, staring at him. "Y...Yes, Neku?"

Neku snaps out of his stare. He had been reviewing his questions in his head. "Huh? What?"

"I said, what do you need?" Joshua, trying to cover up those last few seconds where he appeared vulnerable, smirks. "I'm guessing your listening skills actually haven't improved, hm?"

"I didn't hear you! I was thinking. In fact, I was thinking of how to ask you about what you were dreaming of." This made the smirk disappear. "But I guess this is a good time to ask. So... well, basically, what were you dreaming about?"

The Composer responds quietly. "I was... 'dreaming' of my past. A trio I was in, before my time as Composer would ever begin."

"A trio... so, you had two friends?" Neku asks, clearly interested. _He has- no, had- friends before. _Joshua flinches at the word, making his ex-proxy frown. "What's wrong with that?"

"I did not let them in when we first met. They were both... acquainted with each other before me. The energetic one had said hello to me a couple of times before during the school year. The quieter one nodded to me, probably his way of greeting me. However, after multiple times, the more quirkier of the two had attempted to speak to me, suggesting that we 'hang out', or something along those lines. The calmer one also did the same, but... gave me a slightly better reason to accept their invitation."

"You remember their names?" When the Composer makes no move to respond, he adds, "and don't lie to me. I actually wanna know. It's kinda nice, hearing that you met people back then."

"..." The other boy sighs, feeling a bit frustrated with himself. Well, he just felt something: frustration. "I don't remember their names. It's been many years, Neku. Even a person with a great memory such as I would not recall." Neku rolls his eyes, but then nods. "I honestly wish I did however," he mutters softly. If it were any quieter, the ex-proxy would have missed it.

"Don't you have a memory of them that you could show me?"

"If you do not remember, I became quite tired after the first time I had shown you a memory. I've just woken up. I don't want to go back to sleep again. Come to think of it, I should not be sleeping at all. I may be the first Composer to actually take one nap in their time. Anyway, no I do not. Can't recall a thing of them, even their names. I only hear their voices."

"Oh... You have anything that could help you? Or maybe something with their names on it?"

"Nope. The Angels believe that it is 'useless to reminisce about the past' and 'a waste of memory for a Composer to remember the people they were connected to' before taking their position. They also think that anything or anyone a Composer remembers from their past could force them to react with emotion. You humans seem to do that sometimes."

"You mean like remembering a person or people you really miss (1) or some TV shows and games (2)?"

"Exactly. You humans and nostalgia are the example of this. Higher Ups believe those things are quite foolish."

"Feeling things isn't foolish, and feeling sad that something or someone is gone isn't foolish either."

Joshua shrugs. "Try telling that to the Angels themselves. But to get back on topic, no, I don't own anything that relates to the two persons. However, I remember their appearances quite clearly. I know exactly what they look like... but Neku, I really don't feel the need to continue this conversation. And, truthfully, the rule I mentioned that the Higher Ups have for us is something I should be following. I've been around for so long. Composers outlive the people they are connected to anyway, which is why the rule seems to be one of the more appropriate ones made by the Angels."

He stays silent and turns his gaze to the floor. Neku takes this time to think of what he had just been told. _The Higher Ups and their damn rules. __I'm glad Mr. Hanekoma told me more, and that I found those Secret Reports (3), or else I wouldn't understand some of the things Josh said. _He looks up at Joshua, who keeps his eyes to the floor. _He did have friends before, even if he won't say it. Those two people he used to be with... I wanna know their names at least. Maybe Mr. Hanekoma can tell me about them. After all, he's probably been here **way longer** than Joshua, considering the fact that he's the Producer. Then again, from what Josh said, Composers 'outlive' people, so the friends he had are dead by now. Why am I even so concerned about this? ... I have to ask him more about this. __  
><em>"Joshua? How close were you to your two frie-"

"... Don't even complete that sentence." Joshua finally returns the boy's gaze. "They are... dead. I know that. I've outlived them, and for so many years in fact."

The orange haired boy realizes that the Composer had just voiced his thoughts a second ago. "You read my mind, didn't you?"

"Now what would make you think that?" the ash blonde responds with a smirk. His eyes droop slowly and he starts to fall forwards. Neku grabs his shoulders and makes him sit straight, shaking his body wake him up.

"You're tired, idiot. You just blew your cover. Do you _always _get tired when you do that?"

"Heh heh. Maybe," is Joshua's answer. Technically, it's not a whole lie. He does get tired when he reads Neku's mind, but not when he reads anyone else's. Take Shiki as an example. It's one of the little things that has started to puzzle him during his time in the RG so far.

"You never give straight answers for simple questions, do you?"

"That just adds a little mystery to it. After all, isn't mystery in a subject make things more interesting?"

"No. It just makes it harder to learn what you wanna know, which can really piss people- like me- off. This topic-"

"Joshua, Neku?" Shiki's voice calls. They turn to see the girl walking towards them. She stops in front of the two, smiling. "You might wanna hurry up and get your pancakes, because Beat's kinda taking a lot of them. If ya don't get inside, there might not even be any for you two!" She just notices the current position the two boys are in right now. "Am I... interrupting something?"

Neku realizes that he was still holding onto Joshua's shoulders and the small space between he and the other boy. He flushes and lets go immediately. "No you're not Shiki. We were just talking."

After a moment, Shiki giggles and replies, "Heh heh. Well, when you guys go to the kitchen and finish breakfast, I'll let you two continue... 'talking'." _These two, just __'talking'. How gullible does Neku think I_ am?,the girl holding Mr. Mew thinks._  
><em>"It's true! Joshua was just reading my mind and got tired! I had to hold him up!" Neku says quickly when he knows that she doesn't believe him.

"You read his mind?" Shiki asks the Composer.

"Yes, I did, although that was a few minutes ago, so I'm no longer tired. Oh, and that means that, Neku, you did not have to keep 'holding me up'." Joshua smirks when the ex-Player frowns.

"Well, what am I thinking about now?" Joshua looks at the girl and proceeds to read her mind. Neku only has to wonder what she's thinking.

When about ten seconds pass, the Composer says, "Ha ha, oh Shiki, why would something like that possibly be in your mind?" He laughs- and this time, it's genuine laughter. Somehow Neku knows it is, and that makes him grin a bit.

Shiki laughs along with him. "Well, it just popped up all of a sudden because of you two! I would like to think it will happen eventually!"

"What will happen?" Neku queries them, wanting to know what was so funny. The two look at each other again and burst into laughter again. He rolls his eyes. Obviously, he won't get that information from either of them right now. He'll just ask later. Then again, who knows what Josh saw in her mind? If it was enough to make him laugh this much, it was definitely weird, and probably something that would make Neku regret asking them about if he did. "You know what... nevermind."

When the two of them finally calmed down, Shiki says, "Oh! The pancakes! Let's hurry up! Don't want you two starving if we have to make more pancakes!" She turns and walks back to the kitchen a little quicker. Beat could be finishing up the pancakes... on _her _plate!

"C'mon Josh." Neku stands up along with the other boy.

As they walk to the kitchen, Joshua teases, "So, we were just going to keep talking, hm? Ms. Misaki had another idea in her mind of what we were doing, or what we were going to do later."

"Huh?" The ex- Player doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. However, after a little thinking, he realizes that maybe what Shiki was thinking was that they were... "What? No way Shiki would think that! She's too- what's the word- innocent to think that! By the way, her name's just Shiki, not 'Ms. Misaki'. I thought you were already clear on that and had been calling her by her name now?"

"Hee hee, I was, Neku. I was just making sure you were listening. Oh, and _Shiki _ is not the 'innocent' one in the group. Rhyme is, if you gave much thought about this. At first glance you can see that she is. Her appearance practically describes her as a sweet and honest girl. Despite the fact that she does not remember _most _of the Game (4), it's a shame that she had to be involved in that tragic event on her fourth day. Selflessness is one of the traits that the citizens of Shibuya really need.

"Anyways, why don't we end these conversations for now until after breakfast. I am obviously not hungry since I am a Composer, but it would be nice to taste food early in the morning," Joshua says.

"As long as Beat hasn't devoured everything by now," Neku jokes. At that, the Composer giggles. Once they enter the kitchen, however, Neku instantly shouts, "There's no more pancakes?"

"Yo man, I'm pretty hungry in the morning! I gotta fill my appetite, an' Rhyme's cookin' does the trick!"

"Don't worry Neku, we're making more!" Rhyme tells him cheerfully.

* * *

><p><strong>Time: <strong>8:20 AM

**Place: **WildKat

"Can't believe he's at it again." Mr. Hanekoma drops the day-old newspaper onto the counter with a sigh.

"I thought Shibuya got rid of the pest."

"I thought the same thing. It's been a month since the end of that Game, and I never felt his frequency pick up when he regained consciousness. I should have, that's the problem. I can't imagine why I never did."

"Could it have been because of your absence from the city?"

"It can't be. I can still feel all frequencies here whether or not I'm here or in the Higher Plane, including the Composer and Conductor's. The other Angels did not inform me of his return though."

The boy sitting at the counter takes a sip of his house blend before speaking. "Well, for whatever the reason, they kept that news from you."

"You should have seen the chaos he was starting during that Game." Sanae starts making his own cup of the House Blend.

"So, the math-obsessed Reaper of trash has a thing for making trouble? I'm surprised he's even still around. Must be pretty tough if Shibuya couldn't take him down."

Mr. Hanekoma slides the newspaper across the counter to the boy. "He's a lot of trouble. If I'd known about this sooner I would've went and gotten to him by now."

"Why not go now, exactly? You can sense his presence right now. Even I can, and I'm not from here. Go after the guy already."

"As much as I would and absolutely feel like doing so, I have another feeling that I'm being told I shouldn't. It's not the wisest decision, but considering how the other Angels didn't tell me about Sho's reawakening while I was in the Higher Plane, I guess they've got a reason. It's definitely an important reason, and I don't think I should be digging around to figure out what it is."

"You guys trust each other don't you? They might tell you the truth. They do, right? Like you trust them?"

For a moment, the Producer of Shibuya doesn't answer. After a few seconds, he replies, "I do. Not sure if the trust is mutual."

"That had better not be going against their rules, because I know how much you don't like doing that. However, taking into account all of the events in that Game a month ago, I'd say that's the most rule-breaking I've ever heard from you. Oh, and that's the most involving Shibuya."

The Producer sighs. "I think this conversation should continue another time."

"Alright, sir. Maybe I'll be able to see Shibuya again. Haven't seen him in _many_, _many_ years. It'll be nice to-"

"I already know your history with him. He's got other friends now, even if he won't allow himself to believe it."

"Sure he does," the other Composer said disbelievingly, "but if that's the truth... I'm going to say I'll be impressed. When he and I... Nevermind. As you stated, you already know our history."

Sanae takes the now empty cup in front of the boy and refills it with more of the house blend. "Can't wait to see his reaction to seeing you. The first question that'll come to his mind will obviously be 'How are you here?', and I know him well enough to expect that. Then again, he'll probably use better words for the question." He chuckles.

"I feel his presence with a few other teens'. I can't imagine who they'll be. If one of them's one of those perky girls you'd most likely see in 'fantasy' games (5), I don't think he'd cope."

"Heh heh, well, I'm going to say that you're in for a surprise."

"Whatever you say, sir. As strange as it is to say this, I really missed Shibuya. He's doing the city good, I hope. Not like he knows I'm here, right?"

"He doesn't. I got a Punishment for allowing him into the RG. Technically I did the poor kid a favor, considering _his _Punishment."

"In my opinion, that is a hard one, especially for Shibuya. I'd never thought he'd get one like that. It's a new one for the Higher Ups, I'm guessing."

"It is." Facing away from the other Composer, Sanae refills his own up of coffee. He grimaces at the punishment the other Angels had given Joshua.

"By the way, he's not a kid. You realize how old you, me, and him really are?"

"Of course I do! I've been here longer than he has. Heck, I met him when he was just a kid, and that was waaaaay back..."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Flashback<em>  
><strong>

_**Time: 12:42 PM**_

**_Place: **Kige**myūji**kyo** Street (6)_  
><strong>

_"Mother?" A lone boy looked around the quiet, peaceful street. Unknown to him, **Kige**myūji**kyo** Street, or Kigemy as others have called it, was empty at this time of day. All of the residents that lived in this area were at Scramble Crossing, shopping like normal Shibuya citizens do everyday. So, of course, there was no one around to see him calling for his mother. His father would never answer, so he would call for his mother instead.  
><em>

_He was afraid of being alone in Scramble Crossing because of all of the people and noise in the area. Oddly enough, he had been seeing strange people he could see through, and they looked like they were playing with animals (7). However, he never got close, because those 'animals' would disappear, and the people he saw would sometimes give him a sad look for some reason. Then they ran off. "Mother, where are you?" He may have been only 9 and smart and tall for his age, but he still had no knowledge of the daily schedule his parents had, going home rarely and going to work for most of the day.  
><em>

_"Hey kid." The boy saw a larger shadow cover his and jumped. Slowly he turned around and yelped.  
>For a second he had a terrified look on his face, but the little boy tried to be brave. "W-Who are you? Where is my mother?"<br>_

_"Unfortunately I don't know. But, I'll gladly take you to my shop and give you some food, if you're hungry."  
><em>

_"And... why should I follow you? You're a stranger!"  
><em>

_"Yes, I know I am to you. Don't worry, I won't hurt you."  
><em>

_"Promise?" The boy held out his pinky finger.  
><em>

_"Heh heh. I promise." The man made a pinky swear with the boy. "C'mon. My cafe is a few streets away from here. You ever went to Miyashita Park?"  
><em>

_The child's face brightened with a smile. "Mhm! She took me there once and let me play on the swings!"  
><em>

_"That must've been real fun. Lucky for you, we'll be passing by. Want to go on the swings again? You could even meet other kids your age there!"  
><em>

_"Yeah! I'll feel hungry by the time we get to that cafe of yours!"  
><em>

_The two walked down Kigemy to the intersection where the street and Neko street met. When they reached the end of Neko street and turned the corner to the huge tower, the ash blonde boy's grip on the man's hand tightened slightly. The man glanced down at him and asked, "Something up?"  
><em>

_"It's just... walking through Scramble Crossing scares me a little unless I'm with mother. I don't really know you so I don't know if I'm really safe from the people and those animals."  
><em>

_That raised the man's eyebrow. "What do you mean animals and people?"  
><em>

_"There are these people and animals I can see through. I see them all around the city, but mainly at the Crossing. There's a lot of them there. And then the animals show up and the people start beating them up. I can never get close enough to see, but if I was lucky enough to get close, the other person someone's with disappears. After a few seconds, they reappear out of thin air. When that happens, the animals go away. I told mother and father about what I can see but father doesn't care. Mother, on the other hand, seems to, but just dismisses what I say and says I'm 'imaginative'.  
><em>

_"But the point is, I'm just scared of what I keep seeing. If I told anyone else, they wouldn't believe me, I know it! I just don't get why you're interested in this though, mister."  
><em>

_"Heh. Kid, I believe you."  
><em>

_The child looked up at him with wide, lavender eyes. "You do?"  
><em>

_"One hundred percent. That's a special talent you've got there. You're definitely special if you have the ability to see those things." The older man ruffled the boy's hair, which was surprisingly soft._

_The reaction he received was the boy fixing his hair immediately once the hand was away from his head and saying "Hey! Watch the hair!"  
><em>

_In response, the man laughed. "Oh, and by the way, the name's Mister Hanekoma, just so we're clear."  
><em>

_"Hm... Okay, then. The name's Yoshiya Kiryu. But mother and father call me Joshua." (8)  
><em>

_"Joshua huh? Well, don't worry, Josh, I won't let anyone of them hurt you. We're gonna get to my cafe safe an' sound."_

* * *

><p><strong>Time: 8:28 AM (Present Time)<br>**

**Place: WildKat  
><strong>"Well. That must've been way back."

"Actually, the first Composer shouldn't even have been here. He wasn't prepared for the job. He was one of the first Players in Shibuya back then and defeated the first Game Master in the city for the opening Game with his partner. He was deemed Composer since he had more potential, and his partner became Conductor. They both took the positions, but the Composer didn't last as long as Josh has. While he had potential as I said, he wasn't that powerful. I'm a bit surprised that I had to let him take the job in the first place, but Shibuya needed a Composer of its own, and he had been the only person at the time who could do it. The Conductor did last for a few years longer, but that was it. The Player who had defeated the Composer was in fact Joshua. He acted the same as he does now. I know that he did when you and that other boy knew him."

"He probably does. Shibuya would obviously be strong enough to take down someone as powerful as that. What about his partner?"

"The partner played the Game again. However, he lost halfway through, when he was erased. Josh was told this while he was in the Room of Reckoning during his first few days as Composer. He wasn't fazed at all by the news, unfortunately."

"That's not a surprise. I was like that during my first days as well. All Composers are anyway. What's so different about Shibuya now?"

"Josh is starting to act like a human. By that, I mean sleep, eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and feel emotions. He's started to since he came in contact with his most recent Proxy and-"

"A Proxy?" The other Composer interrupts with a raised eyebrow. "And who would this Proxy be, if I may ask?"

"Neku Sakuraba's his name. He lives close to where Josh used to when he was a kid. I think you'll be able to sense him like I do right now."

"... So, that's who he picked? Funny. I didn't think Shibuya would pick a guy like him."  
>"If you saw him before that Game began, you'd see why. Anyway, Joshua had sent word to me about it telepathically while he was out with Neku and his friends yesterday. I got the news just before I was told that I had to go to the Higher Plane and see the other Angels."<p>

Finishing his cup of House Blend, the boy says, "That's not what I'd expect from him. His Punishment, does that have anything to do with the change?"

"I can't say. I'm still trying to figure it out myself. A change like this has never happened- and I mean it when I say _never_. Why it's happening to Joshua though, I don't have the slightest clue." Sanae looks at the clock. "Around this time, I'd usually be getting customers. And yet for some reason, no one else besides you came..." He frowns. What is keeping customers away?

"Obviously, it's not me forcing people away. I look as normal as any other citizen in this city would, with the exception of one or more shopping bags in hand, of course."

"That's something I'm sure of. You want another refill?" the Producer of Shibuya asks, gesturing to the boy's empty coffee cup.

The other Composer shakes his head and props his arms on the counter. He closes his eyes, his hands cupping his cheeks to hold his head. "Nah, I think two cups was enough for the morning. It's not like I have to go to the bathroom like humans."

"True. So, what're you gonna do when Josh and Neku drop by later?"

At that, his eyes snap open. "They're coming here?"

"Yeah. I got another message from him a while ago, saying that he's heading over here after they eat pancakes at Neku's house and the storm calms."

"_His house?_"

"Relax, will you? I said _they_, as in, him, Neku, and Neku's friends." Sanae chuckles when the Composer lowers his eyes to scowl at the counter top. "Don't be so annoyed that he's hanging out with 'em."

"It's not that."

"Okay then. Let me rephrase that. Don't be so annoyed that he's hanging out with _Neku_."

"Hmph. As long as they don't do anything... crazy enough to get him killed. Bet that Neku kid is reckless."

* * *

><p><strong>Time<strong>: 8:46 AM

"At least we have our bellies full of pancakes and milk," Joshua says to the group as they finish the last of the pancakes on the plate. Empty glasses of milk are now in the sink, ready to be washed... later. "Rhyme, your pancakes were _quite _superb." _Coming from him, that actually means a lot_, Neku thinks.

"Those pancakes were _absolutely amazing_, Rhyme!" Eri tells the blonde girl sitting to her left with a smile.

"Yeah! I'm surprised I haven't gotten a stomach ache with everything I've eaten!" Shiki agrees enthusiastically.

Beat swallows the mouthful of pancake in his mouth before saying, "What'd I tell ya? Rhyme's the best cook I got in my family! Mom's pancakes ain't as good as Rhyme's, an' tha's the truth!"

"Ya know, if you ever entered a pancake cooking contest, yours would definitely win first place," Neku says, smiling at the younger Bito sibling.

"Hee hee, thanks everyone! Maybe someday I'll be a chef! I could start cooking more food to feed you all!" Rhyme giggles, her face a little pink from the compliments.

"Oh, uh, Neku? Shouldn't we clean up the mess now? We don't want to leave these dirty dishes here and the cups in the sink all day," Shiki asks the boy of the household."

"Fine. I never clean anything in the sink like my mom would, but since I have you guys for help, why not," Neku responds with a sigh. He points to the two drawers near to the left of the refrigerator. "My mom keeps the wash towels in there. She... owns a lot. Plenty enough for us to use."

"Let's get started! The sooner we're finished the better!" Eri says cheerfully. "Who knows? Maybe the storm will end when we're done!"

* * *

><p><strong>Time<strong>: 8:59 AM

"Mr. Hanekoma, I am glad to see that you have returned," Merodi says as she enters the WildKat. She sits at the counter in front of the cafe owner, two seats away from a brown haired boy.

"Good to see you too, Mare! Didn't know you cared so much!" Sanae greets the Conductor with a grin, which gets larger when he sees the small smile returned from her. "Want a cup of the special House Blend?" The girl nods, and CAT starts making a cup of the blend right away. "How's your time in the UG going? You bored? Did you leave and spend a few hours in the RG?"

Merodi smiles slightly and replies, "Well, I was not bored. However, I did want to spend some time outside of the UG, so I entered the RG after a confrontation with Sho Minamimoto. I spoke to a few citizens. I believe that one boy had attempted to say hello to me. He was embarrassed though, most likely because he had never spoken to a girl he liked." Sanae chuckles at this, passing her the cup of coffee. "I am compelled to say that he was somewhat attractive." The Producer smirks at her, and realizing what she had said, her face heats up. "I never knew his name. I'd figure that out in one minute, but my own affec- admiration is directed to someone else." Sanae decides to ignore Merodi's slip up.

"Ha ha, if I know Joshua well enough, I'm sure he's not oblivious to you. The only other person he has that's really close to him right now is Neku." Since Merodi is currently staring at her cup of coffee, Sanae takes this chance to glance at the boy two seats away from her. At the sound of the Proxy's name, the boy's eyes are glaring at the counter.

"Ah yes, Neku. He is a nice boy for the Composer to have as a close... friend. I plan on changing that." At that, Mr. Hanekoma raises an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that, exactly? There are a few ways to interpret what you mean. And my first idea is that you're going to break them apart. That's _not _what you're talking about, right?"

"Of course not. I'd never do that to the Composer, and not to Neku Sakuraba either." Merodi sighs, remembering why she actually wanted to talk to Sanae in the first place. "However, I think that I'd like to get to the reason why I am here."

"Alright. You mentioned Sho when you came in here, didn't you?"

"Yes. I had to find Mr. Minamimoto and speak to him. Sadly, he did not want to talk, and I was forced to fight him until he could not retaliate. When I had weakened him to the point where he finally gave up the fight, I told him that the Higher Ups wanted him to ascend and return to the Higher Plane in order to keep him from causing more trouble in Shibuya by watching over him. If he did not, he would be erased personally by one of the Shibuya Angels." Merodi sips some of her coffee, allowing Sanae to reply.

"The... _Angels _told you this?"

"Yes. Didn't they tell you about that?"

"Nope. Not at all."

"How... odd. I expected them to inform all of their Angels of the decision."

"Maybe they don't trust you as much as you thought. The Angels of Shibuya are hiding things from you," the brown haired boy says, interrupting the conversation. He drinks the last of his coffee before looking at the girl and the cafe owner. "The Composer here should be... wary of the events transpiring here."

Merodi appears confused. "Who..." She shakes her head and sighs, knowing that she would get off topic once again. "I shall ask later. Mr. Hanekoma, did you receive any news from the Higher Ups? Anything that will help with the situation?"

"Unfortunately, the other Angels do not want to cooperate with us. Because of that Game and the rules me and Josh broke, they didn't want to help at all. I got the sense they were mad, so that caused the fast weather change here, I'm guessing. They wouldn't let me leave til three in the morning since they had to talk to me for a long time. They spoke to me about both of our Punishments. Joshua's though..." Mr. Hanekoma trails off, trying to figure out how to explain this to the girl who was quite dedicated and held much 'admiration' for the Composer.

"What? What is wrong with the Composer's Punishment?" Merodi asks, concern evident in her voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees that the brown haired boy has also suddenly shown interest in the conversation again at the mention of the Composer, his head barely turned towards them and his eyes looking at Mr. Hanekoma.

Joshua's Punishment is one that would hurt himself, as well as others around him. Mr. Hanekoma knows that the one person it will definitely affect most is the one he hand-picked as his Proxy.

* * *

><p><strong>Time: <strong> 9:30 AM**  
><strong>

"I can't believe this storm isn't over yet!" Neku groans as he flops onto his bed. Beat, Shiki, Eri, and Rhyme are in the living room, watching TV. Neku had insisted that they occupy themselves with television since there wasn't much to do in the house. He wasn't in the mood to watch with them, so he headed to his room when they were all finished cleaning dishes. Joshua... Neku didn't know where the hell he went. He could be wandering around the small house. The guy probably hasn't watched TV in a long time, so that wasn't something he'd do. _What would he even do if he's cooped up in that room looking over the whole city? Seems pretty boring in my opinion. I bet he gets pretty lonely up there... not that I care._ He rolls onto his back looking at the ceiling. He moves his hands to his sides and feels something under his right hand. He picks up whatever it is and takes a look at it. It's his original Player Pin. He inspects it and then notices the feather on the back. It's the Pin Joshua gave him for the slam off yesterday at Stride- the one that beat the crap out of Shooter and Yammer's pins. _Why would he give me the Pin anyway? It's a strong one, definitely. He never asked for it back._

_**BOOM! **_Lightning flashes and thunder claps in a split second. The sound reminds Neku of a gunshot (9), and also reminds him of the times he's ever heard gunshots near him. He jolts at the sound and hears a scream coming from downstairs. "Rhyme, don' worry! I gotcha!" Neku hears Beat say to his sibling. The scream came from Rhyme instead of the other girls. He stands, dropping the pin back on his bed, and runs out of his room. He rushes to the living room after going down the stairs two steps at a time, and he sees the blonde little sister hugging her brother. Shiki and Eri are both rubbing her back comfortingly, and Neku walks over to them.

"Hey Rhyme, are you gonna be okay?" Neku asks her quietly. "You afraid of the thunder storm?"

"Mhm." Rhyme turns her head to him. "I wasn't before but when we ran through it outside..."

_**CRASH! **_Everyone jumps and Rhyme buries her face in Beat's chest with a whimper. Suddenly, all of the lights in the house shut off in an instant, leaving them all in total darkness.

"Damn, a blackout!" Beat curses, hugging his sister closer.

Shiki takes out her phone and uses the light as a flashlight. She manages to see Neku and asks, "Say Neku, do you have any candles around?"

"Yeah, it would be a lot better to use candles instead of our cellphones," Eri says.

"I think they're somewhere in the cabinets in here. I'm not sure which one stores them though." Beat stays on the couch with Rhyme, comforting her. That left Neku, Shiki, and Eri to find them. Shiki checks the cabinet near the kitchen entrance, Eri looks through the larger one next to the TV, and Neku decides to search through the smallest one against the wall below the staircase, each of them using their cell phones as a light source. Because of the size of the cabinet, it doesn't take long for Neku to find nothing. "They're not in here. I'm gonna go look in the cabinet in the the bathroom upstairs. Maybe the candles are there."

He carefully walks up the stairs, making sure he doesn't trip on a step like he used to when he was younger, and walks through the dark hall to the bathroom. The hall seems longer than it actually is when the lights were off, giving Neku a strange feeling that he was in a creepy, paranormal film. He passes his room door, then his parents', which is still closed since yesterday. _I really wish that mom and dad let me get a flashlight. Sure, it never really rains in Shibuya, and it practically never has thunderstorms either. It would have been a good idea to buy one anyway! _Neku thinks. A rush of cold air hits the orange haired teen. _Funny, it usually feels cold whenever a ghost is around_, Neku remembers as he shivers for a moment. He glared in the dark. _I really hate that feeling_. A very faint flickering light at the end of the hall catches his eye._ What the..._ He quietly makes his way over to the corner of the hall, and around that corner is the bathroom. The light is noticeably brighter. Rather than just stand there, Neku quickly steps out and faces the source of light and jumps when he sees a pale face. When that face breaks into a smile and laughs, he regains his composure.

"Joshua..."

"Didn't think you would be scared easily Neku."

"I'm looking for candles. Instead I find you imitating a stalker-spirit in a dark house trying to freak me out for whatever reason you have in that crazy head of yours."

"Isn't it nice to get a little scare once in a while? It's a little fun to get your heart pumped up, especially in an environment such as this. 'Creepy, paranormal film' indeed."

"Did you read my mind again?"

"Of course not, Neku. I just happened to compare this dark area to that because it seemed appropriate. However, it seems that you were thinking the same thing considering how scared you looked a moment ago." Joshua chuckles, covering his mouth with his free hand to stifle his laughter. "You _really _should have seen your face, dear!"

_Haven't heard him call me that in a while._ Neku can't help but smile a little at the sight of the Composer right now. He masks his enjoyment by saying playfully, "Shut up! As I said you were being a stalker! How was I supposed to know you'd be up here doing... whatever it is you were doing."

When he calms down, the ash blonde boy replies, "Oh, looking for these candles that you came here for. You have quite the collection in there. Your dearest mother must've bought them all, I believe? Unless candle collecting is _your _hobby, but who could ever think that of you?" He walks into the bathroom, takes something off of the counter top, and hands it all to the orange haired boy. "You know, you should have noticed that I am currently using a candle right now."

"You had the candles the whole time... Why didn't you just come down to the living room and give us these?"

"Because I didn't want to," Joshua lies, taking Neku's other hand and putting the matches on his palm. "Let's go to the others, shall we?"

* * *

><p><em>"Rhyyyyyyme! Ova' here!" Beat shouted as he stood in the middle of the street, Towa Records right to his left. He waved to me, and I wave back laughing, running to catch up to him. Everyone else walked by, not looking at us. I saw Neku and Shiki on the sidewalk, leaning against the wall of Towa. Shiki was smiling at me and Beat. Neku looked like he didn't care. I know he does, deep down. He's just afraid to show it.<em>

_I returned my gaze to Beat, who just stood there, waiting for me to catch up with a huge grin.  
><em>

_But... what was that moving on the ground? It was red... I stopped at that moment.  
><em>

_It's going under Beat! It's...!  
><em>

_**A Noise**  
><em>

_What? ... Wait, yes! It's a Noise!_

_Fear strikes my heart, and the joy I felt moments ago disappeared.  
><em>

_I ran as fast as I could up to him, trying to save him. He appeared to be confused when he saw the look on my face. I pushed him out of the way, the Noise just underneath the two of us. When I opened my eyes Beat was on the ground. He was safe.  
><em>

_Thank-_

* * *

><p>Rhyme opens her eyes, her heart pounding. She notices Beat laying next to her, asleep once more. Shiki and Eri have done the same, laying on the other couch and sleeping as well. The younger Bito sibling doesn't know where Neku went, and only assumes that he is upstairs with the blonde haired boy, Joshua.<p>

_I... We're all asleep? I don't remember feeling tired, and the others didn't seem to be either,_ Rhyme thinks as she glances at the three sleeping teens. _Shiki, Eri, and Neku were all looking for candles. Maybe they fell asleep on the job, or they were still tired?... No, we all slept for the whole night... _She stands up and notices a blue-white light behind her. Rhyme turns around and finds its source underneath the window. She cautiously walks up to it, and as she gets closer she starts to see the outlines of a figure. Once she is directly in front of it, Rhyme now sees a girl, one she has never seen before.

"Hello, Rhyme Bito," the glowing girl says, "I believe we have not formally met."  
>"Who are you?"<p>

"My name is Merodi. My question to you is if you are alright."

"I'm fine. I just had a... strange nightmare."

"It was no nightmare, I assure you. It was a memory, perhaps. One that was... 'erased' from your mind." _One that I've returned to you, because of the change that is occurring in the true Composer's dear heart._

"What?" Rhyme asks, confused.

"I suppose I have to explain it to all to you, everything you cannot remember from those three weeks."

"Well... I _do _have a fuzzy memory as to what happened the month before this one... but Beat has told me that we were just hanging out together like we always do."

"And that is the truth? If so, have you asked him what the two of you have done when you were 'hanging out'? Did he go into specific detail? What exactly do _you _remember?"

The Bito sister takes a few steps back, beginning to feel uncomfortable with the questions being thrown to her. "Why does this matter to you? I barely know you besides your name... Merodi. Why do you know me? Where did you come from, and how did you even get in here? Has Beat met you? What about Neku, Shiki, and Eri? And maybe Joshua?"

Merodi inwardly sighs. Now _she _was being asked questions. "I am only trying to help you remember what happened. I know you because of Daisukenojo Bito, or Beat. However, he does not know me, just as Shiki Misaki and her friend Eri do not. Neku and I have encountered each other once. J...Joshua and I have met more than once." It is a lie. However, Merodi could not recall a time where she and the Composer had met in a more normal situation that did not involve the Game or their positions. "Any other questions?"

"Yes... Why are you glowing?"

"Simply to give off light. I'd much rather be able to see in the dark than be blind in it."

The sounds of two voices- Neku's and Joshua's- could be heard from upstairs. They were getting close to the steps.

"We may meet again, Rhyme Bito. I am not sure when, but I will help you. Ah, and tell Joshua that I said hello... when you two are alone." Merodi fades away, just when Rhyme says, "Wait!".

Neku and Joshua finally come downstairs, walking to the two sofas. When they see blonde sister standing in front of the window, Neku calls her. "Um... Rhyme?"

"Dear girl, I believe you were afraid of the thunder now... Why must you stand where you can see it so clearly?"  
>"Oh, well... I'm just trying to face it. Maybe I could help myself if I faced my new fear. I won't have to worry about it later..."<p>

* * *

><p>Time: 10:10 AM<p>

Neku channel surfs, laying on the couch closest to the TV in the living room. (Sort of) lucky for them all, the power came back on just two minutes ago. However, there aren't any interesting shows to watch at the moment, therefore leading Neku to start flipping through channel after channel, wishing that some show or movie would be eye-catching.

He looks around out of boredom to see what everyone else is doing. Shiki and Eri are playing with each other's hair... _again_. Beat and Rhyme are sitting on the other sofa across from him, playing cards with the deck his father kept in a small box on the corner table near the front door. Neku knows his dad doesn't have time for card games, and he himself is no longer into them. So, they decided to give the cards a bit more use.

Once again, Neku sees no sign of an ash blonde boy anywhere. He asks aloud, "Anyone see Joshua?"

"He walked up the stairs a couple of seconds ago, not sure why though," Shiki replies as she braids strands of Eri's hair, "You must reaaally be into channel surfing if you didn't notice," she laughs.

"Say Neku, why don't you go check up on Joshua up there? Don't worry about the TV down here, since Beat will do all the channel surfing until you get back!" Eri says with a smile, handing the remote to Beat while putting the cards in his hand on the ground, face up.

"Hey, me an' Rhyme are in the middle of a game!"

"Beat, we're playing Go Fish... Besides, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. If I'm looking at these right..." Rhyme looks from her deck to Beat's. "I would have won, since I have most of the cards you do and you would have been left with just a King of Hearts after five turns."

"Aw man, Go Fish sucks!"

Neku walks up the stairs and finds his bedroom door wide open. The lights are on inside. Neku steps into the room and sees the boy he is looking for sitting on his bed.

"Hello Neku. Having fun with the power on?" Joshua casually asks.

"Why are you in here? Why can't you stay in the living room with everybody else?" Neku questions, ignoring what the other teen had said.

"Oh, I just wanted to see your room in person. Your admiration for CAT is very evident in here. You fancy yourself an artist as well perhaps. The sketches I've looked at certainly make you seem like one."

Neku looks over at his desk and sees his many sketches and drawings laid out on top. "You went through all of that. Why exactly would you want to?"

"Just curious. I've never been inside of your own bedroom before, and it was too dark to see all the details clearly earlier, considering there was a blackout all over Shibuya. These drawings of yours are quite... interesting." Joshua trails off as he takes a drawing off of the desk.

Neku takes this as criticism, thinking the other teen said this sarcastically. "Okay, go ahead and say it's not good enough. That was one of the earlier ones I made, back before the Game." He waits for the Composer to respond. When there is no reaction, Neku says, "It's not great, okay?"

The ash blonde haired boy looks up at him. "I feel that... this picture reaches CAT's standards, and is easily imprintable. It could even be mistaken as CAT's work if spray painted on the wall."

"Wait, are you actually being serious right now?"

"Yes, I sincerely am, Neku. Are you deaf now? Did you lose your hearing while I was in here without you?"

"I'm not deaf, I just can't believe you really said that about my drawing. No one would ever picture you as the complimenting type. They'd think you were snobby and prissy, which you are."

"I'm simply telling the truth. Others would see me that way before they know me, wouldn't they? Judging from afar, perhaps."

"Yeah, but up close that's how you really are. They'd know it because of your voice too."

"Hee hee, I suppose some of my physical attributes may also be feminine."

"Skinny black jeans, short curly-ish hair, girly eyes, girly pose, may I go on and on about your freaking _giggle_?"

"It's simply my attire Neku. I can't say your clothing is feminine, but it is a bit unique to what people usually wear in Shibuya."

"My mom doesn't technically agree with what I wear. I just ignore her when she points that out though, not that I care what she thinks. I'm going to wear what I want when I want."

Joshua lays back on the bed, setting the drawing flat next to him. "Oh, like how you believed that you could _do _what you wanted when you wanted?"

"That was before, Josh." Neku had to wonder how they were having such a normal conversation at the moment. _First we're talking about my picture, then we get off topic and say how Joshua is like a girl, and now we're talking about what we wear_, Neku thinks. He watches the Composer as his hand moves to pick up something.

Joshua glances at the tiny circular object and says, "You didn't return this to me? Did you think it was a gift?"

"No, you just didn't ask for it back. I guess I sort of forgot about it though. I left it there before the blackout came." Neku walks towards the bed and sits down, moving the picture onto the desk. He flops back next to the other teen, shaking the bed slightly. Joshua turns the Pin so that they have a view of the side with the white feather on it. "Why would you give me that Pin? I should've asked you this yesterday, but now is a good time to ask I guess."

"You said yourself that you needed another Pin. So, I offered one. Your welcome."

"But _why _would you do that?"

The ash blonde boy sighs. "I didn't have a motive Neku. I simply allowed you to use this Pin in order to win the Slam Off against Shuto and Yammer."

"I didn't really do anything though. It was all because of this Pin-"  
>"- that you managed to win the match. You see, this Player Pin acts on its own because I made it that way. I used my powers to make it, and no, it didn't tire me. You could let the Pin do all the work of knocking out the others, although you'd have to act like you are still controlling it. Also, you seemed to be losing in the beginning of the Slam Off anyway, so this Pin saved you."<p>

"So I should say thank you?"

"Yup. Well, I sort of deserve it, but a person like you wouldn't do that, now would they?"

"Guess not. But I'm not going to say thanks, if that's what you're expecting from me."

A giggle. An annoying and really _girly _giggle. "You've got enough time to say it. Wonder how long it that will take."

"I don't know, and I don't care Joshua. I'm not going to say it to you."

"Oh well, as I said, you've got plenty of time." At repeating this, Joshua grimaces a little. He doesn't have as much time as his proxy does.

"Yeah, I know I do. Although you've got unlimited time to do anything, unlike me."

_Sad thing is, I really don't, Neku. _While the orange haired teen doesn't notice, Joshua just barely tenses. It's quiet for a few minutes and then-

**He's lonely****  
><strong>_What?! _Neku hears the two words in his head. Joshua couldn't have heard, since he didn't react at all. Neku knows that he heard someone say the words though. Who could have? Everyone else was downstairs!

But then again, it could be a Player, right? Imprinting him? He, being Joshua, was lonely. Now, that could be true couldn't it? The last time Neku was in his room, he thought Joshua was actually lonely while he watched Shibuya and her people. He said he didn't care, but that didn't mean he couldn't ask the Composer himself. He remembers that Mr. Hanekoma had also stated that the ash blonde teen was lonely on the third day of his week with Joshua as his partner. Neku wonders if Joshua will admit he's lonely...

"Hey, Josh?"

"Hm?"

"Are you... lonely at all?"

"Oh? I would like to know what would make you ask that."

Neku turns his head to look at Joshua. "Remember the day when you tricked me into going to WildKat to see Mr. Hanekoma? Well, we were talking while you weren't watching. I asked him about the WildKat cafe, the mission, the phone, and... you. He said you were 'lonely all your life', and that you could see the Games while they were happening." He doesn't get a response, so he continues. "Mr. Hanekoma said you saw the Reapers too, and that a lot of people didn't listen to you. Is all of that true?" Joshua stays silent and Neku watches and waits for an answer. When the other teen turns and Neku looks into the purple eyes, he sees something in them. Sadness, possibly?

"Sanae shouldn't have told you, Neku. You don't need to know."

Yet Neku has a feeling he _wants_ to know. Huh. Maybe he does care. He's still not going to say that out loud, though. Joshua might mock him for it and laugh.

* * *

><p><strong>Word Count without Author's Notes: 11, 653<br>**

**Well, not as long I hoped, but I'm lucky I even managed to publish.  
><strong>

**Pretty boring chapter I suppose. That ending... uuuuughhh. I didn't want to spoil anything for the next chapter since I obviously have someone shown in this chapter who is interested in the Composer of Shibuya. I really want to say it but I shall restrain!  
><strong>

**(1)~ I am basically referring to nostalgia. If you have ever played an old video game or watched an old cartoon or TV show, you'll know what I'm talking about... ESPECIALLY if you loved the stuff in the 90's.  
><strong>

**(2)~ Look at the previous two lines. It explains this note.  
><strong>

**(3)~ I don't think I mentioned this earlier. Because of the fact that I chose to keep the original storyline from the game, Neku has already found the Secret Reports after the Reapers Game.  
><strong>

**(4)~ Rhyme cannot remember most of her time in the Game because she had lost. The only times she remembered was her time as a Player, not as a Noise on Beat's shoulder.  
><strong>

**(5)~ I am referring to the 'cheerful and peppy-ish' girls in Final Fantasy series (a series I adore). Two examples are Rikku and Oerba Dia Vanille.  
><strong>

**(6)~ The name of the street Joshua original lived in (is a mixture of music-related Japanese words.  
><strong>

**Musical= Myūjikaru  
><strong>

**Origin= Kigen  
><strong>

**Composer= Sakkyokka (kyo)  
><strong>

**I took a while just to find a good name. There's probably a better one out there, but this was the result of my thinking: Kige**myūji**kyo. The name is meant to mean "Origin of the musical composer". By origin, it means home, or where the composer came from. However, in this story, Joshua was not the first Composer of Shibuya, while in the game, it is left ambiguous.  
><strong>

**(7)~ Because of Joshua's young age at the time, he never knew what Noise and Players in the Reaper's Game are. This is why he only calls them animals and believes that the Players are really just normal people playing with them (despite all the violence he can see when the two are battling. He never truly learns what they are until later, when he meets Mr. Hanekoma and he begins to understand what he can see.  
><strong>

**(8)~ This is just how Joshua introduces himself to Neku in the beginning of the game. He used this introduction with Hanekoma, so he is only repeating this to his Proxy when they become Partners.  
><strong>

**(9)~ Okay, anyone who's actually played TWEWY should know why Neku is reminded of a gunshot. He's heard it before. Hint hint.  
><strong>

**And that's all! I can't believe how long I've been gone. *Sigh*  
><strong>

**BUT I appreciate anyone who reads the story at all!  
><strong>

**Also, two things! :  
><strong>

**1. I have finished a Doctor Who/Sherlock (BBC) crossover one shot recently. However it contains spoilers from 'Angels Take Over Manhattan' and Reichenbach Fall... MAJOR spoilers in fact. So, if you have already seen them both, or you know you're never actually going to watch either series, feel free to read! Just remember the spoilers.  
><strong>

**2. Due to the story being the most popular story I have, I am currently working on the next chapter of my (currently on hiatus) story, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. It will be longer than the other chapters up since I have received some reviews that people still wish for an update. So, I will add the chapter either this month or December, since I am no longer incredibly busy.  
><strong>

**Alright, see you readers when I update again!  
><strong>

**~`~Got~`~  
><strong>


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